The FATE of Vale
by SMURFANDTURF535
Summary: A story of four people of varying origins meeting together under the roof of Beacon. Will they learn to work together? Or will they hate each other's guts? Drama! Humor! Absurdly impractical weapons! Pretty much everything you've come to expect from a RWBY fanfiction introducing a new team. Rated M for language and some violence. Pairings are possible, but unlikely right now. OCx4.
1. Prelude

**DISCLAIMER: RWBY was created by Monty Oum, and is owned by him and Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. **

**I own nothing but my OCs**

* * *

"Thank you, come again!"

The young man called out to the slightly older gentleman as he exited the shop, the chime of the bell on the door ringing through the now empty shop. He was just glad that the man was gone. After he had come in with his exchange, he had spent nearly an entire hour deciding whether to switch to a longer sword or not. Thankfully, he chose the pricier option at the end of the day, which meant more money for him.

Now alone at last, the young man pulled out the book he had hastily put away when the man first came into the shop. It was a large, red textbook with the title, "Advanced Grimm Studies", in bold font on the spine. On the front was a picture of a faceless huntsman standing on a pile of dead Beowolves, chest puffed out in a hero pose. Not quite the kind of book an average 17 year-old would read for pleasure.

Then again, an average 17 year-old wouldn't be the co-owner of a weapons shop in the middle of Vale.

(Okay, maybe "middle of Vale" would be over-glorifying the quiet corner the shop, but it wasn't exactly hidden from view. Plus, it's been there for the past year and a half, so it's not like it has gone COMPLETELY unnoticed. After all, the shop just had its third customer this week!)

The young man released the breath he had been holding, his hand running through his black hair before he cracked open the book to the page where he had stopped earlier and continued reading.

_...Among the lesser known facts regarding all species of Grimm are the more unique physical attributes. It is common for those uneducated on the subject to ask, "Why are hunters and huntresses necessary? Why not just use common soldiers to kill Grimm?" This is easily explained with one word: mass. For as of yet unknown reasons, any and all creatures of Grimm have disproportionately high amounts of mass packed into their bodies. As a result, they are much heavier, their bones are much stronger, and their muscles are much more powerful. Special weaponry and extensive knowledge and training is required to effectively combat Grimm without guaranteed casualties. This is where hunters and huntresses come into play. There are many schools that specialize in..._

A loud racket startled the man from his reading as the door of the shop burst open, bell ringing furiously, followed by an equally audible voice.

"ZEKE! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!"

Ears still ringing with the bell, the young man calmly replied, not looking up from his book once.

"Volume, Matt. Please."

Matt stormed towards the counter with his arms flailing, oblivious to the request. Or simply ignoring it. Knowing Matt, the latter was more likely.

"Yeah, I know, I know, but if you knew what I know, you'd be unable to control yourself too!"

Not phased in the slightest, the young man ignored his friend's lack of self-restraint and asked the most obvious question.

"Why are you here? I thought deliveries weren't made on the weekends."

Okay, maybe second most obvious.

"It's a special delivery, Zeke! Not a shipment, but a letter! And the return address is Beacon Academy!"

At this, the young man's interest was finally piqued. He looked up, closed the book, and did his best to catch Matt's flailing arm. In it was a cream-colored envelope.

Sure enough, the envelope had a seal on the bottom right corner, a pair of axes over some kind of background. As if this wasn't enough, the return address on the top left only furthered the point home.

The letter was from Beacon Academy. THE academy for hunter and huntress training. To be holding the letter at all was something akin to fantasy for the slum-raised young man.

He stood there in silence, just staring at the envelope, not the slightest hint of any emotion crossing his face. Then, he started to move the letter around in his hands, seemingly trying to look at it from every angle.

"Dude, will you just open it already?" Matt's impatience was clear in his voice "It could be a letter of acceptance OR rejection, but we'll never know if you don't read the damn thing!"

The young man responded almost immediately, eyes still glued to the letter. "WE will never know? The tape holding the letter closed suggests otherwise."

Matt sheepishly scratched the back of his head and chuckled, knowing there was no way he could get one past his friend. "Alright, alright, so I was a little excited, sue me. But I'm not leaving until I get to see your reaction!"

The young man sighed and tore open the letter, emotions still in check as he started reading it aloud.

"'To the esteemed Ezekiel and Theresa Anderson.' Pretty pompous way to open a letter."

At this, he received a light rap on the head. "C'mon, keep reading!"

He went back to the letter. "'It is with great pleasure that I announce to you two your acceptance into Beacon Academy.'" He paused for a brief moment before continuing, "'I am happy that I am in a position to deliver such (hopefully) joyous news myself. The Academy will surely benefit greatly from your enrollment. Despite this, I still urge you to strongly consider all of your options before making a final decision. As good as my school is, I am under no delusions that Beacon is the right choice for everyone. Regardless, this is a moment that deserves praise. It is in this mindset that I wholeheartedly say to you two: congratulations. We do hope you will join us soon. Sincerely, Professor Ozpin. Headmaster of Beacon Academy.'" He lowered the letter from his face. "I can't tell if this guy is being condescending or genuinely caring. Or both."

At this, he received a hearty laugh and a slap on the back. "Who the hell cares?" Matt practically shouted, a huge grin plastered on his face, "You both got in! How exciting! I wish I could be a hunter..."

Ezekiel finally found a grin on his face. "I think It'd be better if you stuck with being a postman for now. Either way, I have to go talk to my sister about this." Ignoring the bewildered look on Matt's face as he processed the jab, he tossed a set of keys to him as he opened the door behind the counter. "It's closing time anyway, so lock up for me on the way out, would you?" He then hurried down the stairs, nearly forgetting to close and lock the door before he began his descent.

* * *

"This is why I wear earplugs."

The woman softly muttered to herself as she continued to hammer away at the glowing piece of metal before her. The noise it was making was akin to an ursa crossed with a nightclub crossed with a jack hammer crossed with a bad hangover. In a word, it was unpleasant. In another word, it was _loud._

Regardless, she continued to work anyway. She had to get the curve on this blade right before the metal cooled again, or she would have to start the entire thing over. And after 5 hours of work, starting from scratch was not something she was willing to do. However, the metal was slowly bending into the shape she was willing it into. The repeated mallet smashes probably had something to do with it too.

As eye-catching as white-hot metal is, it was not the most eye-catching thing in the room. No, that title belonged to the young woman hammering away, drenched in sweat. Anyone's eyes would naturally be drawn to her, given her appearance. Maybe it was the way her pale skin and bountiful figure reflected the fires of the forge, covered only by a sports bra and a black pair of slacks. Maybe it was her flowing black hair, and radiant green eyes. Maybe it was the black as night skin that seemed to exist exclusively on her back, symmetrical red patterns all over it.

Or maybe it was the large pair of pitch-black wings that hung loosely from between her shoulder-blades, flaring ever so slightly every time she struck that piece of white-hot metal. About five feet long each, it would be hard to imagine anything else in the room being so eye-catching.

As she continued to hammer away, the noise became louder and louder as the metal began to bend more and more. Eventually, it was enough. The blade in its final shape, she quickly cooled it in the bin of cold water next to the anvil before taking her gloves and goggles off and unceremoniously falling into the chair behind her, limbs and wings flailing about in fatigue. Her exhaustion meant that she forgot to remove her earplugs, which is why she didn't hear her brother coming down the stairs and opening the door.

An unbelievably loud whistle jarred here from her thoughts as she practically leaped out of the chair, knocking it over with a loud crash as it caused a chain reaction of falling tools behind her. The woman looked defeated as she pulled out her earplugs, knowing she would have to clean all of it up later.

"Hey Tess." The man addressed her, amusement clear in his voice. "Busy?"

"Hey Zeke." Theresa responded, her somber mood infecting her voice before she quickly recovered to a more neutral state. "No, just finished actually. What's up?"

"I've got something to talk to you about."

"Shit, what happened? Is Matt in trouble again?"

Ezekiel was a little off-put from her response, to put it lightly.

"W-what? No! How'd you come to that conclusion?"

"Well, you don't start lighthearted conversation with 'I need to talk to you', so I just thought of the most serious thing that I could think of." The frankness of her response may have been off-putting had she been speaking with someone other than her brother.

Ezekiel continued: "Well, I assure you that what I have to say is good news. Now would you mind taking a seat so that I may share this news with you, m'lady?" The sarcasm in his overly formal tone earned him a cheeky grin and a slap on the back. After he recovered from the subsequent coughing fit she had thrown him into, he took his seat on an old worn-out stool as Theresa picked up her chair and sat back down, legs crossed, arms folded.

"So what's up?"

Rather than explain in detail, Ezekiel simply tossed her the letter, its envelope long since disposed of (but only after he had taken note of the address).

"What's this?"

"Just read it." Ezekiel stated, leaning forward in his seat, hands folded, eyes on his sister.

She simply shrugged and opened the folded piece of paper. "'To the esteemed Ezekiel and Theresa Anderson.' What a pretentious asshole."

"Keep reading."

Theresa's eyes went back to the letter as she read the rest of it in silence. When she finished, she folded it up and re-crossed her arms, staring off into the distance.

Silence enveloped them, the crackling of the forge the only sound in the room.

Finally, Ezekiel broke the silence. "So, what do you think? You're the one who wanted to apply, so don't tell me you don't want to go now."

"It's not that," She said quickly. "I'd be more than happy to go. It's just..."

"Just...?"

She sighed. "How could we get this to work?" She said, gesturing in her general area. It didn't take much to figure out that she was talking about her wings.

"Oh please, it's not like you'll be the only Faunus there."

"You know that's not my concern. I mean, come on, what do hunters do? _F__ight _and _kill_ Grimm, that's what. Something tells me there will be more than one person who will shoot first and ask questions later. Some of these kids could be scarred, for all I know."

Ah yes, the one thing that truly set the Anderson twins apart. One would think that it was the fact that they were twins born to Faunus parents, yet one of them was distinctly human. Adoption would be the obvious answer, but one look at their hair and facial features and it didn't take much to figure out that their relationship is one of blood. But the true black sheep was the older of the two, Theresa. An avian Faunus, although rare, was not completely unheard of.

A Grimm Faunus, on the other hand...

"How about dad's coat?" Ezekiel said after some time passed in silence.

"Pardon?"

"His trench coat. Sure, it's a little old, but I'm pretty sure it's long enough to cover your wings _and_ back if you fold them."

Theresa stared at her brother for a few seconds before standing up and folding her wings, pressing them tight to her back. They rose about four inches off her back. She tried extending her wings again, then pressed them to her back again, without folding them. The feathers on their tips rested gently on the floor.

"I suppose we could do that if we made some modifications. You know, to make the bulge a little less noticeable." She said, not taking her eyes off her back. "But do you really think I can go four whole years without anyone noticing?"

"That's not the goal." Ezekiel explained. "Even if they do eventually find out, they simply cannot do so without getting to know you first. That makes it impossible to use the shoot first and ask questions later tactic. All you have to do is not act like an ass, and we'll be fine."

"Oh, well that's just lovely." She scoffed at his remark. Only her brother would ever be able to get away with such a scheme.

"So are we good? I'd like to write back and confirm the acceptance as soon as I can."

"Yeah, I think we're good. You can go upstairs ahead of me, I've got to...clean this up. Damn." She said, looking sadly at the tools strewn across the floor.

Ezekiel laughed heartily at his sister's expense before standing up from the stool. "Whatever you say, sis. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me; I still haven't eaten." And with that, he departed for the staircase and closed the door behind him.

Theresa ended up spending quite a while looking at the tool-covered floor, thinking about what had just happened. She then folded her wings again, pressing them against her back, the bulge resting between her shoulder blades and the small of her back.

"Thanks, dad." She said with a smile to the air around her, only answered by the crackling of the forge.

* * *

"I really hate this."

The owner of the voice was a young woman, sitting dejectedly in the middle of what could only be called a clusterfuck of supplies. Books, clothing, dust of varying kinds, books, toiletries, a funky looking spear, books, books, and MORE DAMN BOOKS. "Honestly, how many textbooks do they expect us to have?" She put her hands in her short brown hair, gripping tightly as if it would all fall out if she let go.

"Master Faye, need I remind you that you will be attending Beacon Academy? I'm sure they know what they're doing over there."

The answer to her question came from an older gentleman standing up against the wall facing her back. Even from this viewpoint, he could clearly see the mounting frustration in the young woman's actions. "I told you that I would be more than willing to pack your things for you, Master Faye.'

"No, Nick! I am doing this myself, no matter how long it takes!" The confidence in her voice betrayed the young woman's true thoughts. Combat? She can do that. Studying? Piece of cake. Living on her own? Pssshhaww, child's play!

Packing? The bane of her existence.

"Are you so sure of that, Miss? I count this as the second hour having passed with no progress being made."

Faye's eyes darted behind her, to the large grandfather clock next to her faithful butler. The instant she did, the clock chimed seven times. She looked out the window and saw the sky in brilliant hues of red and orange.

"Holy crap." She let her hands fall back to their sides, hair now in a mess parallel to the one surrounding her. "Where does the time go? I'm going to miss my run at this rate."

Exasperation clear on her face, Nick decided that now was as good a chance as any to ask what was at the forefront of his mind. "Master Faye, why are you so insistent in packing yourself? You got in, so the hard part is already over. I can't say I understand why you insist on putting yourself through something you so clearly dread doing."

At this, Faye finally stood up, shaking her head as to fix her hair. Being a head shorter than her butler, she looked up as she addressed him. "It's not about enjoying it, Nick. Being a huntress is not about enjoying what you do, it's about what you _have_ to do. You should know that, you worked with dad!"

Nick merely rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, going from loyal-butler-mode to sage-adviser-mode. "Faye," He said, his tone clearly reflecting his change in attitude, "that makes no sense whatsoever. Being a huntress-in-training and packing a suitcase are completely unrelated. I can tell that being polite will solve nothing, so I'll just be blunt: why are you punishing yourself?"

At the accusation, Faye's eyes grew wide as dinner plates and her jaw hit the floor. "Wwwwhhhaaaaaaat? Nnnnooooo! I am doin' noooo such thing!"

All it took was seven more seconds of impassive staring before Faye's facial expressions returned to something more realistic. Anger.

"It's because of dad!"

"Oh? Your father?"

Faye nodded ferociously and started to pace in a circle. A rather small circle due to the mess on the floor, but a circle nonetheless.

"I don't know this Ozpin person, but I can tell you that he sounds exactly like that Westward Academy yahoo who simply wanted the recognition of training a Lupei in his school! They don't want me! They want my father! They want me to be my father!"

Silence.

"I don't want this! I wanted to become a huntress in my own right! I don't want to have to live up to these expectations! Why can't I just be me? Why can't I just become a huntress because it's what I want to do? Why does it have to be to succeed my father? Why can't I...I just..."

Nick continued to look at her during her outburst. She had gone from angry to annoyed to sad to confused to just plain lost, and was now sitting on the ground with her hands in her face. He took that as his cue to take a seat next to her.

"Then don't do it."

Faye looked up, her eyes red but devoid of tears.

"I also don't know anything about this Ozpin character, but I can tell you that he is not the only one there. He is also surely not the only one who has heard of your father."

Nick continued, choosing his words carefully, knowing that one wrong word could send Faye into hysterics again.

"So go. Attend Beacon. Prove them all wrong. Show them all that you are not just the daughter of Vandici Lupei. Show them that Faye Lupei is a worthy huntress in her own right." He took this opportunity to pick up the spear next to him, its blade split into three perpendicular sections, and handed it to her. "Your father cared for you deeply. He wouldn't have left this with you if he thought you couldn't handle it."

Faye took hold of the weapon in front of her and stared at it for a long while. Finally, a soft smile signified that Nick's role of adviser had finished.

"If I may be so bold, Master Faye, it is already 7:35. You are late for your..."

"My run!" Faye bolted up, hitting her faithful butler square in the forehead. If there was one thing Faye Lupei wouldn't miss for the world, it was her evening run.

"Go ahead, Master Faye," Nick said, still rubbing his forehead, "I'll take care of the packing. You go enjoy your run."

Faye was finally back to her old self. She shouted a quick word of thanks before practically sprinting out of the room and down the stairs, nearly knocking over a bust of someone important on the way down.

Nick stood up, the pain in his forehead finally subsiding, and looked behind him at the clusterfuck that still surrounded him.

"I suppose I should probably get started." He said to himself as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead, knowing that the pile of traveling supplies would undoubtedly prove a greater challenge than any Grimm ever could.

* * *

"So I'm sure you've been working hard. How's that case coming? What was it, the...um...book shop break-in?"

The man simply chuckled in response to the question. "No, dust shop robbery. And I've hit another dead-end. We've got a definite culprit and plenty of witnesses, but we just have no idea where he is hiding." He tugged slightly at his black tie, loosening it. He wasn't the biggest fan of wearing formal wear, but his father certainly knew what he was saying when he told him 'Nothing looks more bad-ass than a well-tailored suit.' And 'bad-ass detective' was certainly a title he was willing to have.

"Is it the same guy as the last time? what was his name? Greek?"

At this, the man resumed his chuckling. His brother always had a way of being funny without meaning to.

"No, his name is Roman. I swear I've told you all of this before..." The young man looked out the window of the café they were in, before his attention quickly snapped back to his coffee. He took a sip before continuing, "But enough about me. Surely you didn't call me out of work for some small talk."

"Straight to the point, like always. Okay, here." The man handed his brother a piece of paper folded into thirds.

"For me?"

"Actually, it's mine. But it explains what I wanted to talk about."

The man once again chuckled to himself as he opened the letter, reading the first line aloud in an overly regal voice. "To the esteemed Abel Meserve-"

His view of what came next was quickly blocked as the owner of the letter brought his hand down on the words (as well as his own hands) with a loud _bang_.

"Ow!"

"Please don't."

"Fine, fine. Geez..."

He continued to read the rest of the letter in silence, his scowl slowly turning into a straight line, then a bright grin.

"You got in!" He practically shouted, "That's great!"

"Yeah, I did. That's why I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, I'm sure dad is thrilled! What did he say?"

"I haven't told him yet"

"Oh wonderful! What about Alice? What did...wait, you didn't tell him?"

"I didn't tell Alice either."

The man finally stopped talking. Abel continued, completely monotone: "You're the first one who knows."

"Something tells me that it's not coincidence that I'm the only one who knows."

"It's not."

The man sighed deeply, sinking back into his chair as he gazed into the sky. "Okay, I'll bite. Why is that?"

Abel finally broke eye contact with his brother. "I'm worried." He finally said.

The serious atmosphere broke with the man's chuckle. "So what else is new?"

"Ty, please. I'm really worried here."

The chuckling stopped, replaced with a sly grin. "Okay fine, about what?"

Abel took a minute to find his words before speaking. "I got into Beacon. And I'm happy, don't get me wrong. But you're my brother, you know that I'm a little...what's the word..."

"Slow?"

"Sure, let's go with that."

Tyler resumed attending to his coffee, adding another sugar cube before downing the rest of it. "You really are slow if you're worried about that."

"What?" Abel asked, more confused than ever.

Tyler continued. "I seriously doubt that you would have gotten in if they thought you were too stupid to do so. Sure your grades are not the best, but you still got in! Something tells me all that training you do on the side is what did it."

Abel smiled. Enthused even further, Tyler continued his speech of moral support.

"The fact of the matter is, you got in. End of story. Now, I've heard several different things about this 'Ozpin' guy, but one of the common threads is that he's not an idiot. He let you into Beacon for a reason, bro. He's not gonna give you something he knows you cannot handle."

Abel stopped smiling, no emotion on his face. Tyler knew that meant he was thinking. After a few seconds, the smile returned to his face. "You're right. Just like always. I knew I made the right choice to come to you first."

Tyler broke out into an all out grin. "Well now that that's done, I gotta go get back to the station." He said as he stood from his chair. "I'll leave it to you to tell the folks and Alice." He walked out with a brief salutation before he spun around and caught the door as it closed. Poking his head back inside, he called out to his brother. "Abel?"

"Yeah?"

His smile grew even brighter. "Congratulations."

Abel quickly found himself mirroring his brother's million-dollar smile.

"Thanks."

* * *

**That took much longer than I though it would.**

**So to those of you reading this, Hi! I'm the author (obviously) and I'd like to take a minute to thank anyone who has gotten up to this point. In case the quality of the writing didn't make it clear this is my first ever fanfic, so I'd appreciate all the constructive criticism you can give! I'll also be happy to answer any questions you may have-just shoot me a pm-even though questions are probably pretty limited this early.**

**Sooooo...**

**Yeah! Thanks again, and I'll see you next time!**

**-smurf**


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to Beacon

**DISCLAIMER: RWBY was created by Monty Oum, and is owned by him and Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.**

**I own nothing but my OCs**

* * *

"Toothbrush?"

"Check."

"Textbooks?"

"Che-holy crap, ALL of these?"

"Yeah, I know. Weapons?"

"Check."

"Dogs?"

"We don't have dogs."

"Just making sure you're listening. Let's see... underwear?"

"...perv."

"Theresa."

"Oh come on, that was ASKING for it."

Travelling essentials littered the floor of the workshop. Everything from canned food to extra-extra-extra sharpening stones were present. Several items (such as the rather large crate filled with nothing but tissues) were ruled out almost instantly. One such item was the slew of maps the twins owned, so there was a large pile of them next to the forge (Theresa's idea), which was currently shut down (Ezekiel's idea).

Speaking of Ezekiel, it was he who was going over a list he had prepared beforehand. Theresa had decided to wait until the morning of their flight to begin packing, so he wanted to make absolutely sure she wasn't going to forget anything. He himself had packed the night before, but he wasn't one to pass up on another recheck, not while his name was Ezekiel Caution Anderson (That's not his name).

"Anyway, I think I have everything I need..."

"You sure?" He shot a quick look at her.

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Positive?" His quick glance had become a glare.

"...Yes?"

"Absolutely sure?"

Theresa finally caught on. "What am I missing?"

Ezekiel sighted, pinching the bridge of his nose in the process. "Only the most important item. Where's the coat?"

Theresa's eyes lit up in recognition. "I knew I was a twin for a reason."

"Yes, I am your twin, a gift from the heavens to remind you of the most IMPORTANT AND UNFORGETTABLE PIECE OF LUGGAGE THAT MUST BE PACKED NO MATTER WHAT." He proclaimed in exasperation.

Theresa was a little taken aback at his tone. "Rough night?"

"I'm just worrying, don't mind me."

"Well, seeing as how I'm probably the source of your worry, I think it's my duty to mind you. What's up?"

He sat down in the stool he sat in the previous week. "It's just senseless worrying. About the plan. I always worry about my plans. About all the things that can go wrong, about all the uncontrollable factors. Stuff like that. It...kept me up all night, and I guess you forgetting about the coat just pushed me a bit too much."

Theresa took a seat in her usual chair, tools staying where they were this time. "But if it's like you say, then all this worrying isn't going to change anything. So why do it at all?"

"Oh, I know. Believe me, I wish I could stop. It's just..." He trailed off and looked at the ground, trying to come up with a way to explain it.

"The burden of being a fucking genius." Theresa broke the brief silence, amusement in her tone.

"I can't say that is how I would have put it."

Theresa got serious again. "It's not like you were going to say it. Somebody's got to say it Zeeky, you are a big brain. Scary big. And that's your problem; you over-think _everything_. Sometimes, you just need to dumb it down a bit. There's nothing wrong with worrying, but you can't let it take over your entire mind." She tapped her head while she said this, as if to emphasize her point further.

"Can I ask you a serious question?" Ezekiel asked, finally looking up from the floor.

"Oh boy. Sure, what it is?"

"How are you so calm?" He asked earnestly. Despite his intelligence, he simply couldn't figure this out himself. "The entire plan focuses on you. If the plan fails, you will suffer. Big time."

"I know." That was it. Now Ezekiel was getting desperate.

"So how?"

Theresa just shrugged. "Because I know there's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is have faith in the plan, so that's what I'm going to do. Worrying will change nothing. If anything, it will tip someone off that something is going on."

Ezekiel smiled. "You called me a genius."

Theresa rolled her eyes and got up from her chair. "Don't let it get to that big head of yours." She called out as she began walking across the workshop towards the storeroom. "And I'm pretty sure I said _fucking _genius."

Ezekiel stood back up, stretching his back. "Well I think it takes one to know one."

"You're funny." She yelled across the room before she unlocked the door and stepped inside. After several exclamations of discovery, a few loud crashes, and a slew of colorful language, the door swung open, Theresa holding a leather trench coat. "You know, I think dad really _is_ looking after me."

"Why's that?"

She held up the coat proudly, "It's black." She said with a cheeky grin.

Ezekiel merely laughed. Black was his sister's favorite color.

"I guess so."

* * *

It would be completely reasonable to say that Faye lived for her evening run.

Not literally of course, but they were definitely one of her favorite things to do.

Faye was born into interesting circumstances: her mother died in childbirth, her father was rarely home, and her body was incredibly weak. On top of all of this, her father knew she would one day become a huntress whether she wanted to or not, so he started taking her with him on his evening runs as a way to build her strength. Faye wanting to become a huntress by her own will and growing to love the runs were just added bonuses. Besides, it was the only things she would ever be able to consistently do with her father.

Now, of course, she only did it for her love of running and the role it played in her health.

Reaching the halfway point, she decided to take a quick breather and sat on a nearby bench. Although she ran every day, her small frame and slew of health problems meant her stamina could only ever go so far. She practically collapsed on the bench when she went to sit.

Taking the time to catch her breath, she started to think of the events of the past week. After the packing fiasco, her time was split between re-re-re-re-checking to make sure she had everything and aura training. She had neglected her aura training over the past month, and needed to catch up to ensure her health remain stable. It was an unremarkable week. Save for the packing incident.

She found herself thinking about her butler's reassuring words, playing the scene over and over in her mind.

'_Prove them all wrong. Show them all that you are not just the daughter of Vandici Lupei. Show them that Faye Lupei is a worthy huntress in her own right.'_

She smiled to herself.

_'He wouldn't have left this with you if he thought you couldn't handle it.'_

_"_I can handle this. I know I can."

After quickly checking her pulse to find that it was back to normal, she stood off the bench and continued running. Just because she was weak didn't mean she wasn't going to push herself.

When she finally returned to the manor an hour later, covered in sweat and panting like she had just carried an Ursa 5 miles, she found a pitcher of water waiting for her, just like always. She downed the entire thing before heading upstairs and stripping down for a much-needed shower.

Upon walking into her room wrapped in a fluffy towel, she found her suitcase sitting next to the door, looking like it was ready to burst. On top of it she found her weapon, folded in its compact storage form.

She picked it up and turned it over in her hands several times. The shaft a pale grey, she knew it would clash well with her orange attire. She summoned her aura to her hand and in one swift motion, the shaft shot out on both sides. One one end was the blade, a brilliant bluish hue, split into a cross shape. On the other end was a sphere of the same color - a counterweight. She then whirled it around her head and went over some basic stances and strikes. The weapon felt...perfect.

She smiled as she repeated to herself once again, "I can handle this. I know I can."

* * *

Abel was in his rec room, hitting his arms against the curious looking contraption in the middle of it: a log with three sticks pointing at him at two different heights. The salesman called it a "wooden man". Abel didn't understand how the name came about - the log looked nothing like a man, after all. Despite this, he still bought it, as well as a book on what to do with it. That was this morning. As he took a step back from the wooden man to refill his water, he noticed the color of the sky.

"Oh wow. I guess I should probably stop for now."

It was only at this point did Abel realize just how much his forearms hurt. He was smacking them into the wood for the past 8 hours, after all.

"It's a shame you're too big to bring on the ship." He remarked as he pushed the wooden man with an open palm. It rocked back and forth very briefly before returning to its position, stiff as a statue.

With a grin, Abel headed for the showers. All in all, it was a pretty typical weekend: find a form of combat he knew nothing about, then try to learn the basics by the end of the weekend. However, there was one thing that set this particular weekend apart.

Tomorrow was his flight to Beacon.

His talk with his brother helped calm him down greatly, but he was still a little nervous. No matter how good he was at fighting, he was still probably going to end up being the dumbest one there.

He sighed as he stripped down and turned on the water, the thoughts of what he learned over the past week coming back to him. After he tried (and failed) to study up on academics, he decided to follow his brother's words and give the folks at Beacon what they accepted him for: a combat specialist. As such, he had brushed up on the basics of several different styles, and even managed to learn a new one on the last day. Abel was happy with what he accomplished, but he just couldn't shake this bad feeling he had.

Just as he stepped out of the shower, his scroll started ringing. He was able to get to it before it stopped and recognized the number instantly: it was Alice.

"Hello-"

"DON'T YOU 'HELLO' ME! WHO THE HELL GETS ACCEPTED INTO THE BEST HUNTER SCHOOL THERE IS AND DOESN'T TELL THEIR SISTER!"

And just like that, Abel's useless worry was replaced with a very real fear of what was on the other side of the line.

"Uh, sorry Alice. I meant to tell you-"

"I GOT THAT MUCH, YOU DOLT!" Abel had to hold the scroll at arm's length to keep his hearing.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I really am. I've just had a lot on my mind for the past week, so could you please bring your voice down to a human level?"

There was silence on the other end of the line. That was either very good or very bad, Never in-between.

"Okay, okay." Alice finally said. "Sorry."

Abel released the breath he only just realized he was holding. "So...I got into Beacon."

"Yeah, Mom just told me. Congratulations, by the way!" Alice chimed. Abel was always amazed by how fast Alice switched moods.

"Thanks. So how's school? Is Vacuo nice?"

"It is, actually! You know, I didn't think deserts would be my shtick, but I'm really enjoying it! The sun is kinda annoying, but you get use to it after a while!"

Abel gradually felt his worries dissolve as he exchanged useless banter with his sister. He was lucky that he was part of a family that cared about each other so much. About half an hour later, he failed to stifle a yawn, the day having taken its toll on him. Alice laughed.

"Alright, I won't keep you any longer. You leave tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Okay, make sure to call me before you go! DON"T FORGET!"

"I won't, I won't. I promise."

Satisfied, Alice said her goodbyes and hung up.

Alone with the silence at last, Abel quickly got dressed and headed back to his room. After all, he still had packing to do.

* * *

_There's a girl with rabbit ears...there's a guy with a pair of horns...that guy has a tail...she has some scales...these all seem so easy to hide, yet they're all out in the open._

Theresa was leaning against the wall of the ship, trying to identify all the Faunus that she could find. She figured it would be a good way to pass the time during the three-hour flight. What she wasn't expecting was that so many Faunus would be proudly displaying who they are to everyone. From what she knew, humans treated Faunus like shit, so she expected a lot more would be hiding their heritage.

Actually, it was more like she was _hoping _for it. She really didn't want to be the only one with something to hide.

_She kind of looks like a...cat? Of some kind? But I don't see a tail anywhere. Maybe it's just because she's sitting._

She tugged at the glove on her left hand, not sure how else to spend the time. For the first time in a while, she had an excuse to dress up for something other than a birthday. So she wore her new favorite outfit: A black button down shirt with black slacks and black combat boots. Her trench coat sat comfortably over the whole shebang, and she topped it all off with a black pair of gloves and a black wide-brim hat (Not a fedora though, that would just be tacky). Yes, her favorite color was black, but there was a good reason for all the color-neutral clothing: It meant that the red markings on her back wouldn't be able to bleed through should she find herself without her jacket for some dust-awful reason.

"How're you holding up?"

She shifted her attention to her right to find Ezekiel standing there in his outfit. He chose to dress much simpler, wearing a red leather jacket over a white shirt and white jeans with sneakers. His hair was in a simple ponytail that reached the base of his neck. More important to Theresa, however, was the mug he was holding in his hand.

Fun fact: Theresa Anderson is a coffee junkie.

"I'm pretty good now." She said, practically lunging for the mug as he handed it to her, savoring the smell of sweet victory before taking a hearty gulp. The ensuing scene where she attempted to cool her burned tongue by hopping around in a circle spewing a few profanities must have been quite a sight.

Trying (and somewhat failing) to stifle his laughter, Ezekiel took a much more cautious sip from his own mug, which had tea.

"They've got the good stuff on this ship, direct from Atlas and everything. We haven't even gotten there and I'm already impressed."

Theresa nodded as she continued to fan her tongue. "I can tell." She finally said before taking a more reasonable sip. It was certainly the best she ever had. "Hey Zeke, why do you think all the Faunus are letting their features show?"

"What do you mean?" Ezekiel asked as he peered over his mug at his soon-to-be-classmates.

"Last I checked, Faunus are second-class, aren't they? I figured a lot more of them would be ashamed of who they are. But it seems like almost everyone is fine with letting it show."

Ezekiel quickly scanned the ship. He could see six Faunus in the crowd in front of him, but there were undoubtedly more on the other ships.

"Here's my two cents: everyone is here to become a hunter. Last I checked, weaklings simply cannot become hunters. You follow so far?"

"Yeah."

Ezekiel took another sip from his mug. It was running out fast-he would need to go for a refill soon. "Well, I don't think the required strength is in body alone. I think the Faunus here are confident enough with themselves that they are at the point of not caring what others think." His eyes fell on the girl with the rabbit ears, her posture almost screaming 'EXCEPTION! EXCEPTION!' "At least, most of them." He went to finish off his tea.

"See, this is why you're the smart one." Theresa smacked him on the back. Her timing couldn't have been better: Ezekiel had just gotten the last of the tea in his mouth and was preparing to swallow it. However, it would never come to be. Instead, the tea ended up flying everywhere while Theresa doubled over with laughter. He looked at her with a glare that was clearly asking 'What the fuck was that for?'

"Payback for laughing at me." She said, still lightly giggling.

Ezekiel felt his face turn into a sly grin. "Fine, I guess you don't need more coffee then. I'll just go get myself some mo-"

And just like that, Ezekiel was on the ground crying uncle, in a headlock at the mercy of his sister.

Her focus was broken when she heard the blonde on the other side of the ship squeal with delight as she hugged the girl next to her. In that brief moment, Ezekiel saw and took his opening, turning the tables in one fluid movement. Now in an arm-lock, Theresa found herself once again marveling at her brother's skills.

"Okay! Okay! I give!" She half yelled, tapping the ground furiously.

A look of satisfaction on his face, Ezekiel relinquished his grip and got off the ground, his sister following soon after.

"How do you always do that?" She asked him, moving her arm in a circle in a futile attempt to ease her aching shoulder.

"Magic." He said with as straight a face as he could muster. Which for the record, was not very straight.

Before Theresa could reply, the news feed that was playing in the background was interrupted by a hologram of a woman, instantly drawing the attention of everyone on the ship.

* * *

Faye was sitting peacefully against the wall of the ship, weapon on her left, a cup of tea on her right. She wore a flowy orange shaolin cloak with a grey rope belt around her waist and a pair of black, loose-fitting slacks that were tight around the ankles. A pair of tabi and grey waraji were on her feet. She sat with her eyes closed, legs crossed under her, hands resting on her knees. To the untrained eye, she was either meditating or sleeping. To the trained eye, she was aura training.

She opened her eyes briefly to check her surroundings once again before closing them and calling upon her aura. A light blue glow disturbed the air around her as she felt it flow through her body. Taking controlled breaths, she began to push her aura more and more. As the glow intensified, so did her focus. The outside world began to fade from her mind as she continued to push. When she reached the point where she couldn't push it anymore, she held it there for as long as she could. Breathing changing from controlled to ragged, she finally stopped her aura. As it slowly died down and her awareness of the world came back to her, she noticed that someone was watching her.

She opened her eyes to find a man sitting about five feet away in a far more relaxed pose, looking at her intently. His hair and eyes were the same color as hers, save for the slight golden sheen to her eyes that he was missing. He wore an azure chest-piece that looked like it was made of...scales? No, just small pieces of metal. He wore similar armor on the rest of him, save for his arms and feet, which were bare and had black boots on. He was also wearing dark navy blue pants. On either hip was a handle, presumably attached to a short sword or something. The standout feature of him was definitely his forearms - the bruises were practically layered on top of one another. A little unsettling, to say the least.

He gave her a quick smile before speaking. "Hi there."

"Hi." She replied quickly, still quite startled by the man's sudden appearance.

"Sorry if I scared you."

"Oh don't worry, it's not a problem." She was still a little weirded out by the guy, but she couldn't deny that he didn't seem very hostile._  
_

"Oh, good," he said, "I'm kind of a sucker for anything that has to do with fighting, so when I saw you training from over there-" He pointed to his left "-I wanted to figure out what you were doing."

Oh. So that was it. But that still left one thing unanswered.

"And you are...?" Faye asked, a questioning tone to her voice?"

The man's eyes widened. "Wow, sorry about that. Call me Abel. What's your name?"

She couldn't help but smile. For being such a big guy (she could see that even while he was sitting) he seemed like quite the softy. "I'm Faye. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you to." He said with his own smile.

"So, I don't mean to pry but-" Faye was interrupted by the sound of screaming. They both whipped their heads around to see a woman dressed in black hopping in a circle, spewing coffee and profanities while the man next to her laughed to himself.

Faye turned her head at the sound of more stifled laughter. It was coming from Abel.

"Guess it's too hot." He said after calming down.

Faye smiled once again. "Guess so. Anyway, what's with your arms? I mean, if you don't want to tell me, I get it but..."

"It's fine," He said. "They're just from some training. I'd have covered them up but I...kinda...forgot to pack anything with long sleeves." He scratched his head absentmindedly.

Faye was a little more than just surprised. "From training? Training for what?"

"The explanation is kinda long, so let's just say I was smacking them into wood for the whole day to toughen them up."

Faye gave Abel a dumbfounded look. "Isn't that a little...extreme?"

Abel threw his hands up and shrugged. "What can I say? I love this stuff. I only bruised because I only just started yesterday."

Now Faye was completely lost. "You trained all day for something you just started?"

Abel shrank under her glare. "Like I said..." he said weakly.

"Yeah, I got it. Well anyway, good for you. Everyone should want to put that much effort into something they love." She said with a light smile.

"Thanks!" Abel said enthusiastically. "So, that's a nice weapon you've got there."

Faye turned to her left side and brought her father's...no, _her_ weapon to her lap. "Thanks. I think so too."

"Does it have a name?"

"It does." She said, thinking a bit before remembering the name. "It's called Greater Lance of Vytal."

"Greater? Is there a lesser?" Abel asked, half-jokingly.

"There is, actually. Although, the Lesser Lance of Vytal is lost." She said with a mechanical tone in her voice, her mind clearly elsewhere.

After some shared silence, Abel felt a light bulb go off in his head. "Wait, Greater Lance-"

A loud cry of pain interrupted him. They both looked to find the woman in black from earlier with the man in a headlock. There was another scream to their backs, and they turned to see a blonde woman crushing a smaller woman in a bear hug. Yet another cry of pain (this one feminine) brought their attention back to the woman in black, who was now in an arm-lock at the mercy of the man.

"Whoa, he's pretty good." Faye remarked.

Abel was about to ask his question again before the entire room was once again interrupted, this time by a certain holographic woman.

* * *

It was not long after the announcement from Professor Goodwitch that the ships finally arrived at Beacon. As students went in droves to pick up their luggage, Theresa decided to take some time to appreciate the fresh air before doing the same. She linked her hands above her head and stretched, feeling her spine pop before taking a seat on a nearby bench. As she continued to watch more and more students file off of the ships, she couldn't help but notice more and more Faunus stepping off the ship with their features in plain sight. To be honest, it made her feel a little conflicted about her own state.

Before she sank any deeper into her thoughts, her brother sat down next to her, his suitcase at his side. Like her, he still had the mug from the ship in his hand.

"You know you're suppose to get your bag, right?" He asked as he sat.

She nodded. "I'm waiting for the crowd to die down. Anyway, this place is really nice. Looks like a damn _castle_, for crying out loud."

"Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed. I mean, coffee and tea is one thing but..._wow_, this place is REALLY nice."

Theresa smiled as she went back to people watching. One thing that everyone had in common, human or Faunus, was that everyone had their weapon on their person. She had to admit, some were really cool. When she saw someone walk by with a sword _on fucking fire_, she couldn't help but feel a little envious. Looking back, she wished she hadn't designed her weapon to be so...boring. Even if it was effective.

Noticing a lull in the crowd, she decided to go and get her bag before the next ship landed, leaving Ezekiel by himself on the bench.

He didn't even notice her leave, however. He was busy paying attention to the scene in front of him: a girl with white hair was chewing out a girl in the middle of a pile of luggage. He thought she looked familiar, but couldn't figure out how. As the white-haired girl continued to lecture the girl (who was wearing some kind of red cloak), he couldn't help but feel bad for her. She didn't even look like she was aware of what was going on around her, just mumbling in response with her eyes half closed. It almost sounded like she was getting angry back, the way her brief mumbles got louder and louder. _  
_

_Hey wait, it kinda looks like she's going to..._

Before he could complete his thought, the girl let out the loudest sneeze he ever heard. Actually, the sneeze itself wasn't very loud. It was the ensuing explosion - yes, _explosion_ - that caused most of the noise. After reassuring himself (several times) that he was not in a firefight, he stepped out from under the bench to find the white-haired girl yelling even more furiously at the girl in red. The yelling continued until A girl in black and white clothing stepped in. Ezekiel couldn't hear the ensuing conversation - he wasn't very close, after all - but when the white-haired girl walked away infuriated and the black-and-white girl walked away indifferent, he assumed the conversation was over. Then, the girl in red fell to the ground, and he felt his stomach do the same. She looked so incredibly defeated. He was about to go and help her when he heard a familiar voice over his shoulder.

"Whatchya lookin' at?" He heard Theresa say. He turned around to find his sister, suitcase on one shoulder. "Scoping out chicks already?" She continued with a sly grin.

"Not really," he replied, "I was actually just about to go cheer her up. She looks like she's having a rough day."

Theresa looked over his shoulder, her smile changing from sly to reassuring. "Looks like that won't be necessary."

He turned around to find the girl being helped up by a boy in white armor. He would be the perfect knight in shining armor if Ezekiel didn't know he was the one puking his guts up on the ship earlier.

"Oh, that's good." He said, "I'm not very good at comforting people."

Theresa just laughed and slapped his back. "C'mon, we've got an orientation to go to." She said amongst the loud coughing of her brother.

* * *

"Well, that was interesting." Faye commented. "I'm going to check out the grounds, I'll see you at orientation." she said as she ran to get her luggage. She was glad she had already met such a nice person in Abel, even if he was a little eccentric. Hopefully, he wouldn't be the only one. Aside from him, though, she had yet to see any of the school. That was something she planned to change with her walk. Besides, she had to figure out a running path that would be long enough.

As she walked around the campus, she found herself being more and more impressed with every step she took. Although she had yet to see what was inside, the scale of the building itself was quite awe-inspiring. On the outside there was a massive set of paths leading to every building on campus. Not only that, but the wide variety of plants in the gardens along the paths gave the grounds a feeling of life that she never experienced before.

The more she learned about Beacon, the more it grew on her.

She was so caught up in her walking that she soon completely forgot about charting a running path, losing herself to the beauty of her surroundings. It was so...peaceful. For the first time in her life, she felt not even the slightest shred of worry. For the first time in her life, she was happy that this was where her name had brought her.

A set of distressed cries broke her from her dreamy walk. With a bit of surprise, she saw the girl who exploded in the courtyard and the vomit-boy from the ship sprinting in her direction. "Come on," the girl cried, "We're gonna be late!"

_...late? Late for what?_

The pair sped past her as she pulled out her scroll. She immediately found herself sprinting after them, nearly dropping her scroll in the process.

Orientation started in two minutes.

* * *

"Ohhhhhh, _that's _why. I though she looked a little young to go here." From the tone in her voice, anyone would think Theresa had found the secret to eternal life or something.

"I hear ya, but apparently she's not. The Headmaster practically _scouted_ her."

Ezekiel found himself engaged even further in the conversation. "Scouted her? What do you mean?"

The twins were conversing with a certain blondie they happened to be standing next to in the Assembly Hall. In the course of their brief exchange, they had found out several things. One, her name was Yang, and the girl who exploded was Ruby. Two, they were sisters. Ezekiel figured there was a story behind the fact they look nothing alike, and decided not to pry. Three, that Ruby was fifteen - attending Beacon two years early.

Yang gave them a proud grin. "It's a pretty long story, but let's just say she may or may not have stopped a dust shop robbery by herself."

Ezekiel showed almost no emotion, per usual. It didn't matter though: Theresa showed enough for the both of them. She gave Yang a confident laugh of her own. "Oh wow! So she's a big shot, huh?"

"You'd never guess if you asked her. Do you know the first thing she said to me about this whole thing? She doesn't want to stand out. Can you believe it? I know I would be soaking this up as much as I can, but good ol' Ruby is too socially awkward to admit that she's great!"

The more Yang talked, the more Ezekiel got a sense of the relationship between the two. He didn't have much to go on, but he could guess that Yang was probably both very protective of Ruby and was always the first one to try to drag her out of her comfort zone. Quite an interesting pairing.

Just as suddenly as it started, Yang cut off the conversation when she saw a certain girl appear in the doorway.

"Hey listen, It's been great talking to you guys, but my sister's here now, and she doesn't look very happy."

Theresa turned around to find Ruby standing in the doorway with vomit-boy, undoubtedly searching for Yang.

"Oh yeah, no problem. Be sure to introduce us to her next time though, alright?"

"Deal." Yang said as she stuck out her hand. Theresa took it in her own and gave a firm handshake. The two walked over to another open spot in the hall. It wasn't hard to find - although there were a lot of people there, the place was _huge_.

As she watched them leave, Yang started rubbing her throbbing hand with her other.

_'Damn,' _she thought as she called Ruby over, _'Girl's got a grip.'_

* * *

Abel was probably the only one in the room not talking to someone.

He had seen Faye enter the room, but was unsuccessful at attracting her attention, as she ended up standing on the other side of the hall. Thankfully, it wasn't long before the silence surrounding him broke.

"Hey, is this spot taken?"

The question came from a woman dressed head-to-toe in black formal wear, with a black leather trench coat and hat to top it all off. Behind her was a man in a white jacket and pants. It took Abel a little time before he remembered where he had seen the two before.

"Aren't you two the ones who caused that ruckus on the ship?"

The man looked less than pleased, but the woman broke out into boisterous laughter. "So you saw that. Sorry bout that, but he tried to get between me and my coffee."

Abel smiled at the opening. "Mental note: Don't get between coffee and...?"

"Oh, right! Theresa." She stuck out her hand. "This here is Ezekiel. Tess and Zeeky-" Ezekiel coughed. "Err...Tess and Zeke, if that's too much."

"That's fine." Abel said, taking her hand. His mother always taught him to be a gentleman to women, and to never make yourself look too strong and scary, so he took her hand with just a little bit of force.

That quickly changed when Theresa started gripping his hand. He put as much force in his hand as possible to keep it from getting smothered in the girl's vice-like embrace.

"You've got quite a grip there, Theresa." He commented, breaking the handshake before it was too late for his poor hand.

Theresa grinned a Tyler-worthy grin. "So I've been told."

Before anyone else could say anything, Ozpin caught everyone's attention when he cleared his throat.

"I'll...keep this brief," he began, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge; to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you...and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." And with that, he was done. Brief indeed. Glynda discussed a few, even briefer formalities before dismissing everyone.

"Okay," Theresa was the first to speak, "I'm calling it now: that guy's a robot."

Abel looked at her, bewildered.

"Theresa, seriously? A robot?"

"C'mon, if that wasn't robotic than what the hell is?"

Ezekiel just sighed and dropped the issue.

* * *

The ballroom was, surprisingly, large enough to fit everyone.

Many students were already sleeping. Faye was aura training in the corner, having just returned from the showers after her run. Ruby was writing her letter and talking to Yang. Abel was talking with Ezekiel, who was reading a textbook in Advanced Grimm studies. Blake was reading. Jaune was trying - and failing - to pick up girls. Yes, every student new to Beacon was there.

All save for one.

Theresa couldn't be further from the ballroom if she tried - she was sitting on the railing of the highest balcony she could find. As it turns out, one of the drawbacks of her heritage was she always found it very hard to sleep. She sat on the railing, feet dangling at least a hundred feet in the air, just observing the campus. Despite her blunt personality, she liked solitude almost as much as she liked coffee.

Her eyes were fixed on the window of the ballroom, watching the students mingle. She could just make out the figure of her brother talking with the boy she'd met before orientation. _'They seem to be enjoying themselves.'_

She silently mourned for this thing she knew she would never be able to do. Communal sleep was simply not an option.

"I must say, I didn't expect anyone to be here at this hour."

Theresa nearly fell off the railing at the voice. She also almost gave herself whiplash as she spun around at record speed to see Ozpin standing there, cane in one hand, mug of coffee in another.

"Holy shit- Mister O- umm, Professor Ozpin, I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Please calm down, Miss Anderson. It's quite alright." He seemed to be immune to Theresa's panicked outburst.

"O-oh. Okay." Theresa had never been so caught off-guard in her life. Rarely was she ever without some witty comeback, but now was one of those moments. Even rarer were the times someone other than her brother successfully snuck up on her

"So, why are you here, Miss Anderson?" He gestured to one of the chairs on the balcony before sitting in the other one.

Theresa took a deep breath and took her seat. Never before had she been so conscious of her sitting posture. "I'm just getting away from all the racket."

"Oh?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "You've gone quite out of your way, then. It couldn't have been easy to climb up from the outside."

Theresa wasn't fazed by the implications of the question. Or at least, she didn't show she was. "I think clearer the higher up I am."

Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "Miss Anderson, you are clearly troubled. Please do tell me why."

Theresa was about to dismiss him, but decided it would be a bad idea to lie to the headmaster on the first day. "I'm here on...unusual circumstances. I hope you don't mind if I keep what they are to myself."

"Of course not."

Theresa continued, "One thing I have to deal with is my sleep patterns. They're...erratic, to put it lightly."

Silence. Then: "Is that it?"

"No, but to be honest, I think that's all I'm comfortable with saying right now."

Ozpin took another sip. "I understand. Miss Anderson, know that we all have troubles to deal with because of who or what we are. That is a simple fact of life. If I were to give you one piece of advice, it would be to not regret not having what you don't have. Time spent in regret can be used to either get what you don't have, or in enjoying what you do." He took yet another sip. It seems he was more than just fond of coffee as well. "Remember Miss Anderson, you cannot change what you are. You can only change who you are. Do you understand?"

Theresa felt a small smile creep onto her face. "Are you a shrink, sir? Cause that was pretty good!"

Ozpin gave a light smile before rummaging around in his coat pocket. "Here's the key to the balcony." He said, presenting a brilliant bronze key. "Should you ever need a place to clear your head, feel free to come back. Just use the door and knock, please. I can't have you falling and injuring yourself."

Theresa took the key and stashed it in one of the many inside pockets in her coat. "Thanks."

She had the feeling she was really going to like it here.

* * *

**I'm just gonna throw it out there now - I need work on the interactions between the cast and the OCs, I know. Regardless, I'd be hugely appreciative if you guys would leave me a review telling me what else I need to work on.**

**It's also 3 AM, so there's probably gonna be a little sloppyness at the end, FYI.**

**BTW, I am up to 20 views, 1 review, 1 favorite, and 2 followers. To be honest, that's ****20 views, 1 review, 1 favorite, and 2 followers more than I thought I was going to get! You guys are great.**

******That's all for now. Next chapter, we'll finally get into combat!**

******...Although I don't have a chapter outline for next chapter ready like how I did with this one, so It's gonna be longer than three days. Plus, I need to work on my college essay, and then school starts in September, so updates will be coming more infrequently.**

******For those who are curious, I do know for a fact that next chapter will be covering the events of episodes 4-8.**

**See you all then!**

**-smurf**


	3. Chapter 2: Initiation (Part 1)

**DISCLAIMER: RWBY was created by Monty Oum, and is owned by him and Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.**

**I own nothing but my OCs**

* * *

Theresa was not the kind that accepted anything as "just the way it is".

While she was not the most intelligent person in Beacon, she was no slouch when it came to how perceptive she was of her surroundings. She chalked it up to having lived with her brother - the most perceptive person she knew - all her life, but that didn't mean she wasn't acutely aware of her surroundings in her own right. And with that awareness came a natural curiosity: she always wanted to know why things were the way they were. Why was the sky blue? Why were Grimm naturally evil and bloodthirsty? Why did orange juice taste so bad after brushing her teeth? She was truly an individual with many questions about her surroundings.

However, there was one thing she never, ever, for fear of death, questioned. And that...

Was the necessity of her morning coffee.

Being a light sleeper in general usually meant that she ran on caffeine alone more often than not, but she already knew she'd passed the point of hopeless dependency a long time ago. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it: if she couldn't have her morning coffee, she couldn't function. It was due to this borderline-medical need that she found herself praising the powers-at-be for the academy's 24 hour self-serve cafeteria. Which of course, had a coffee maker. A good one, too.

As she nursed her fifth cup of the morning, she found herself reflecting on the words the headmaster shared with her the previous night. He was nothing like she was expecting. Contrary to the first impression she got from his orientation speech, it seemed Ozpin was one of the most down-to-earth and understanding people she'd ever met.

_'Remember Miss Anderson, you cannot change what you are. You can only change who you are.'_

Theresa smiled as she walked to the locker room, carrying her now sixth cup. By now, all the students were up and about. Some were continuing conversations from last night, some were indulging in the morning's breakfast (pancakes), and some were tending to their equipment, as Theresa would be doing very shortly.

She opened the door to the locker rooms to find it surprisingly empty. Upon searching for a familiar face by some of the lockers on the opposite side of the wall, she spotted an eye-catching yellow mane , the little girl in red next to her, that crabby bitch in white, and vomit boy. There was also a woman in red and gold armor, a man in some green eastern-style clothing, and the hyperactive girl in pink talking his hearing away. Lastly, she saw her own flesh and blood sitting on a bench, sharpening his weapon. She decided to greet him last, and headed over to take part in her overdue introduction.

"Hey! Yang!" She near-shouted as she closed the distance between her and the pair. "Sleep well?"

"Oh, hey Tess!" Yang near-shouted back, opting not to stick out her hand if Theresa didn't do so first. "Yeah, just great, what about you?"

"Fine, fine." Theresa quickly responded. "Alright, now that that's out-of-the-way, I think you have some introductions to do." She said, smiling at Ruby.

Yang looked confused for all of a millisecond. "Yes I do," she grinned brightly and put her arm around her sister, "This is my little sis, Ruby. Ruby, this is Theresa."

"H-hello. Nice to meet you." Ruby said meekly as she stuck out her hand. It was all Theresa needed to tell that Ruby was not the most socially adept student at Beacon. She took her hand with a bright grin and did her best to not crush the limp fish she was holding.

"The pleasure is mine." She said brightly. It was clear that Ruby was not going to take the conversation any further, so Theresa pressed onward. "So, are you ready for today?" She asked both of them.

Interestingly enough, Ruby was the first to answer. "Yup. To be honest, I'm kinda excited. I'm finally going to fight some Grimm. Just like a real huntress!"

Theresa was a little surprised at the girl's sudden shift in personality, but she certainly wasn't upset about it. "Good to hear" She felt her smile growing as she attempted to shift the conversation to her domain. "Is that the Grimm-fighter over there?" She asked, pointing to the open locker. In it was a block of red metal, but Theresa could tell at a glance that there was more to it.

"Oh, yeah!" Ruby said, gaining a new air of confidence as she brought out the weapon. "This is Crescent Rose. It's a scythe and a high-impact sniper in one."

Theresa felt the weapon nerd in her wrestle for control. "Very cool. I almost considered putting a gun in my weapons, but then I realized it would cost too much over time. So they're kinda plain in comparison."

She saw the glint in Ruby's eyes as she asked the obvious question. "And what might your weapon be?"

"I'm glad you asked," she stated with glee as the nerd took full control. She smacked her arms together and a pair of curved blades slid out of her coat. They rested perpendicular to the backs of her hands, and stuck out about four inches. Upon further inspection, it was clear they were attached to gauntlets clamped onto her forearms. Ruby looked down when she heard a similar noise to find that her feet also had the blades.

"I call 'em the Four Horsemen. Sure they look plain, but they complement my style very well. And I can swear on my life that they will never break." She said proudly.

Ruby couldn't care less how plain they looked. She flew into a whirl of questions about how she made them, what they were made out of, how sharp they were, if they were difficult to use, if they ever rusted, how they were hidden in her coat, how the sliding mechanism worked, how she took care of the blades, how the blades took care of the grimm, how...

As Theresa answered question after question without batting an eye, Yang found herself smiling. She was happy that there was at least one person in the school Ruby could talk to. Jaune was nice, she knew that much, but if Theresa was able to receive Ruby's gushing obsession with weapons and gush right back, then she was a treasure.

She took the opportunity to break away from the gleeful exchange of knowledge, and sauntered over to a certain boy sitting in the corner. He was no longer sharpening his weapon (although the stone was still in his hand), opting to instead observe the interaction between his sister and the little girl. Not many people knew about weapons on her level, so it was a rare sight indeed. It was in looking at this banter that he noticed Yang strolling over and sitting next to him.

"Quite the pair, eh?"

He smiled. "Yes, your sister is quite knowledgeable. I must say, I'm surprised she's keeping up so well."

"Oh, weapons have been her thing ever since she was little. That's one of the reasons she went to Signal: she wanted to make sure she had a weapon that was cutting-edge." Yang stated with a grin.

Ezekiel narrowed his eyes at the blonde's gag-inducing pun before he returned to sharpening his weapon.

"So, what does it do?"

"Pardon?" He looked up at her.

She gestured at the polearm sitting on his lap. "Your weapon. What makes it special?"

He looked at her, then looked at the weapon. There were many different types of it back in the shop. Although a Guan Dao is not an easy weapon to learn, it was always good to have a few in the window since they were so eye-catching. However, he could count the number of double Guan Dao he'd ever seen on one hand. Specifically, it was the one on his lap.

He stood up and, grasping the middle of the deep red shaft, spun it around in his arms and across his body. The twin blades blurred into one when he began spinning it between both his hands like a windmill. "It cuts things really well." He said dryly.

Yang rolled her eyes without hesitation. "Yeah, I can see that. What's it made of? Why's the blade such a weird color?" she asked as she pointed.

He followed her finger to one of the blades on the shaft. It was a blackish-purple color. "It's obsidian."

Yang tilted her head, looking confused.

"Volcanic glass. It's, uh...very sharp."

"Glass? Doesn't it break?"

Ezekiel picked up a small glass bottle filled with grey dust. "Yeah, that's what the dust is for." He opened a small compartment next to one of the curved blades. "It strengthens it enough for it to be practical."

Yang raised her eyebrows. "That works?"

He just shrugged. "Yep. I have no idea how though: she made it, not me." He said, pointing at his sister. She was still blabbering on to Ruby, although the conversation had switched to Crescent Rose.

"Wait, she made that? By herself?"

Ezekiel nodded and sat back down. "We own a weapons shop in Vale. She's the one who deals with the weapons."

Yang was genuinely impressed. Still in school yet running their own shop? Just wow. Maybe it'd be a good idea to keep them around.

"Hey, you wanna be on the same team?" She found herself saying. It would be a good setup. Theresa could help Ruby come out of her shell, and Ezekiel was pretty damn handsome. Oh yeah, and she was sure they were good fighters too.

"That sounds great, although I don't think we get to pick our teams ourselves." Ezekiel replied, his voice completely even. If her comment made him nervous, he did an excellent job hiding it.

Then, in a reflection of yesterday, both conversations were abruptly brought to a halt by the announcement of Professor Goodwitch.

* * *

"What does that one do?" Abel asked, pointing to the bottle of white powder.

Faye picked it up and started pouring it into her open spear. "This one's ice. It shoots out in chunks instead of a stream."

"Huh." Abel turned his attention to another bottle. "What about that one?"

Faye closed the compartment and opened up another one, picking up the bottle of blue dust while doing so. "This one's electricity. It pulses outward when I push this button. I don't usually use it, but I heard the forest is pretty dangerous."

The pair was sitting on a bench in the gardens in a successful attempt to get away from the crowds before their trial in the forest began. As Faye continued to fill her lance with several different colors of dust from a small box on her hip, Abel was polishing the blades of his swords to a mirror-like shine. Necessary it was not, but he liked to know he had a way to see behind him if he felt he needed to.

Faye finished pouring the last of the blue dust into the shaft before carefully putting the bottle back in the case and latching it shut. She then stood up and twirled the spear lazily around her head. The weapon was heavier, but it still felt perfectly balanced. She smiled to herself and turned back to Abel. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah, just finished." He hastily stuffed the polishing rag back into his pocket and slid the swords back into their sheathes. He stood up and lightly jogged to where Faye was standing before they both set off for the cliff. They way Faye saw it, being early would do nothing to hurt their scores.

They found the path to the cliff empty of life. Obviously, Professor Goodwitch had yet to announce to the students to begin gathering. The two hunters-in-training enjoyed a few moments of silence before they both decided they'd had enough.

"Hey-"

"By the way-"

They both spoke simultaneously. Abel was quick to take Faye's ensuing silence to assure her that she could go first.

"You never did tell me what makes those things special." She said, gesturing vaguely at the pair of blades on his hips.

"I didn't, huh? Okay." He said as he drew both swiftly. They were both blades, but that's where the similarities ended. The smaller one had a slight curve to it, and looked more like an old flintlock pistol with a massive bayonet attached than a sword. The other one was a seemingly ordinary longsword with a straight blade. What set IT apart was the clusterfuck of gears and springs that covered most of the long handle.

He first swung around the smaller blade. It hummed through the air with a high-pitched tone that reflected the length of the blade - about three feet. It was more like a really, really big knife than a sword.

"This one's called Esther. Looks plain, but that's only because it is. It's an early-model gunblade that my grandfather used. It shoots, it stabs, it hurts stuff. That's pretty much it." He quickly slipped the blade back to its place on his right hip.

Faye nodded in affirmation. "And the other one?"

Abel grinned as he spun the larger blade around his finger. It clearly had a trigger, but Faye couldn't see a barrel anywhere. Maybe it was in the gears.

"This one's Xerxes. It's a little newer than Esther. In fact, I got it in the mail the day before I left."

"And you feel comfortable enough to bring it to Beacon?" Faye asked.

"Well, I just had Esther and a plain sword before this baby, so why not? It can only be better."

Faye was interested. "So, what's it do?"

Without breaking eye contact, Abel grinned at her and stuck out the blade at arms length. He pulled the trigger, and blade split into two, resting at a 180-degree angle. He released the trigger and the blade clicked back to normal. "It does damage." He said with borderline-sadistic glee.

"How much was it?" She asked abruptly.

Abel was a little taken aback, but told her the price anyway.

Now it was Faye's turn to be taken aback. "You spent that much...on a big pair of scissors?"

"..."

"..."

...

"It's titanium."

Faye rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say." She continued walking to the cliff.

Abel quickly caught up with her. "Well, I have a question for you."

"Okay..."

"Your weapon."

Faye glanced at the spear. "What about it?"

"It's the Greater Lance of Vytal. You said that yesterday, right?"

Faye had an idea of where this was going, but she continued anyway. "I did."

"Okay then, I have two questions."

"Holy shit, just ask already."

"I'm getting there, I just had to make sure. Okay, so last I heard, the Greater Lance of Vytal was the weapon of Vandici Lupei. So question one: is that the same weapon? Question two: if so, how did you get it?" Abel had a skeptical look on his face.

Faye's face, on the other hand, was completely expressionless. She knew she would have to cross this bridge eventually, but she was hoping it wouldn't happen so soon.

"Answer one: Yes, it's the same weapon. Answer two: I inherited it." She continued walking, facing straight ahead.

Abel stopped walking, thoughts grinding to a halt. After five long second, he quickly caught back up.

"Inherited it?"

Faye stopped and looked at Abel. Her face was still devoid of any feelings.

"My name is Faye Lupei. I'm his daughter."

"Yeah, I figured that much." Abel said quickly.

An emotion finally appeared on Faye's face. It's called surprise.

"What?"

"You said you inherited it, so I figured you're related in some way. Yeah, I'm surprised your his daughter, but that's not what I'm curious about."

Faye was utterly lost. "So what are you curious about."

"The 'inherited' part." Abel said quickly. "I mean, I don't mean to pry, but...um...there's no real easy way to ask this..."

Faye waited with bated breath.

"Well...you don't...um." He scratched his head. "You don't...inherit something from...someone..."

Faye motioned her hands in a 'get on with it already' motion.

"...alive."

Faye stopped motioning and stood straight up. "I forgot that the public was never told what happened to him."

"What happened?" Nervousness was plain on his face.

"My dad died five years ago. That's how I inherited it." She smiled sadly.

"Oh..." Now Abel felt terrible. "Shit, I'm sorry-"

"It's okay. I've had five years to accept it."

Their conversation sullied, they continued the walk to the cliff in silence. By the time they got there, the first round of students were just arriving. It seems their conversation took longer than they thought.

* * *

The students were lined up on the edge of the cliff, twenty-four in all. The first group to go for the day.

"It's sickening, really."

"Pardon?" Ezekiel replied, flabbergasted. This was the last thing Ezekiel thought his sister would say prior to their trial.

"They're launching us into the forest." Theresa said, taking in the spectacular view.

"Yes."

"We'll be flying through the air."

"Falling, but yes."

She leaned over to him - close enough that no one could hear - and whispered. "I'm saying, the irony is sickening."

Ezekiel's face lit up in recognition when he saw his sister's back twitch slightly. "Don't get any ideas now." He said with a grin.

Before she could respond, Ozpin began addressing his pupils. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." The stoic manner and careful choice of words suggested that this little speech was though out and planned beforehand. Of course, it could have just been Ozpin being Ozpin.

"Now," Professor Goodwitch continued, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignments of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates." A pause. Dramatic tension built exponentially. "Today."

The mumbling of several students were barely audible.

Ozpin continued. The synergy between the two made it clear that this was not their first rodeo.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time hear at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

"Oh my." Faye mumbled.

"I'll keep an eye out for ya." She heard Abel mutter. She rolled her eyes.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

The mumbles-turned-groans of the students became much more audible. A few even cried out in open protest.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

"That's...kinda dark." Theresa whispered. If anyone heard her, they didn't say anything.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Ignoring the question of one student without hesitation, Ozpin began the process of launching the students one at a time.

"So, what's your landing strategy? Can the Horsemen do anything to help?" Ezekiel asked Theresa.

"No."

"So what's your strategy?"

Theresa started laughing rather loud. She was launched before she could pull herself together. A quick "WHAT THE FU-" rang through the air before she was out of earshot.

Ezekiel just shrugged and assumed a crouch. He was launched next.

Then three more students. Faye was next, wearing a scary face until she was launched with a yelp. Abel chuckled to himself before assuming a proper crouch.

With the remaining students flying soon after, the initiatory examination of the new student body began.

* * *

Theresa was having fun.

Being born to Faunus parents, she was raised in the ghettos of Vale. The buildings were all run down, crime was rampant, and all the Faunus spent their time either fighting, getting harassed by humans, or running with the White Fang. Because of this, she spent most of her spare time in her room, hiding from the hate and violence, being lulled to sleep at night by the sounds of blunt impacts and cracked noses.

Unsurprisingly, she grew to hate violence. She nearly ran out of the house when her brother told her he wanted to be a hunter (Admittedly, she was only six, but the point still stands). As a result, she ended up developing tactics and, when she got older, weapons. All to ensure that, should she ever find herself in a fight, she would be able to end it as quickly as possible.

Paradoxically, her hatred of fighting is the reason behind her mastery of fighting.

Another reason behind her self-isolation was her near-paranoid obsession to keep her heritage hidden. The last thing she needed was a reason to get killed in a town with no reason to speak of.

All of this meant that this was the first time she'd ever flown through the air before. As an avian Faunus, it was a rare moment of pure bliss.

_'Wow, this feels good. Is it like this for everyone, or is it because I'm part bird?' _She could feel the massive grin on her face. Regardless of the reason, she was enjoying herself way too much to notice how rapidly the forest canopy was approaching.

_'Oh right, landing strategy. Well, Ozpin did say to destroy everything in my path...'_

Any sane bystander would not hesitate to point out that Theresa's "landing" was anything but. The girl curled herself into a ball and smashed through the canopy, felling no less than four trees before crashing into the ground with a loud _thud. _After rolling to a stop, she quickly stood up, dusted herself off, and looked around.

It was quiet.

'_Too quiet. Well, not really, those wolves sound kinda cute. Wait...'_

She spun around to find a group of three Beowolves standing behind her in a triangle formation, the two smaller ones obviously following their leader.

"That was fast." She muttered to herself as she smacked her arms together. Her blades extended, she angled herself slightly with her left foot in front of her right, front arm at her side, back arm facing upward. It was her combat stance.

The lead Beowolf strafed her, seemingly checking for any openings. As soon as it found one it lunged at her, swinging its right paw in an effort to slash her neck.

With a quick grin, Theresa spun on her left foot and jammed the blade of her right arm into the Beowolf's attacking wrist. Its momentum stopped with a yelp as it tried to pull back. The blade held fast, however, and with one motion, Theresa twisted again, yanking her right arm back, bringing the Beowolf with it. As she did so, she uppercut the Beowolf's shoulder with her free arm, severing it with the blade in a fountain of blood. She didn't stop there, however, and continued from her uppercutting motion by kicking her victim in the head with her right leg, smashing it's white and red plate (and the skull under it) as it made contact with her shin. She then finished it off with an axe kick from the opposite leg, decapitating it with the blade on her foot as it reeled backward.

The other two Beowolves, presumably startled by the gruesome death of their leader, fled. Whether out of fear or to fetch reinforcements, Theresa did not know. Nor did she care. She had more important issues to think about.

Like finding her partner.

* * *

Ezekiel was enjoying himself somewhat less than his sister was.

He knew from the beginning that his weapon would not be able to help in his descent. He knew that he had to rely on his semblance and his substantial aura reserves to make it down there. He knew his style was not flashy or particularly high-scoring, and that he would have to make up the points in other areas.

What he wasn't expecting was for the process to be so...easy. The trees in the Emerald forest had some of the thinnest canopies he'd ever seen. Three branches and he was on the ground. On top of that, the wildlife he'd encountered so far totaled at a boarbatusk and a funny-looking frog. Put simply, he was getting bored.

_'I honestly thought there would be more here. Why'd Ozpin make it sound so ominous if it's so easy?'_

Normally, Ezekiel would be worried that such a though would be jinxing his apparent luck. But after ten minutes of aimless wandering without contact of any kind, some bad luck was starting to look pretty good.

As if on cue, a rather large grimm came barreling through the trees, chasing some kind of deer. Praising his good (bad?) luck, he charged the beast with a yell, crashing into it with a shoulder check.

The ursa was obviously far heavier than the hunter that attacked it, but the force of the impact was enough for it to lose balance mid-stride and crash into a tree. The deer escaped, and the ursa quickly turned to its assailant, rather miffed that its meal had escaped.

The ursa's roar was louder than expected, but Ezekiel was just happy to have something to do. He lightly twirled his weapon before resting it on his shoulder, taking a rather aloof stance. He then began pacing as the ursa jumped side to side. Both were searching for an opening.

Having found no opening to speak of, the young hunter-in-training decided to make one. He dashed forward, closing the distance to half of what it was before hopping back. The ursa took the bait and lunged, intending to intercept Ezekiel's charge. When it's swipe met nothing but air was the exact moment when he leapt forward again, weapon raised. Spinning it like a buzz-saw, he landed two vertical slashes on the paw before the ursa leapt back. Predicting this move, Ezekiel charged forward and, with a horizontal swipe, cut the creature across the mouth. Now the bearer of a wicked Glasgow smile, the creature bled profusely from its mouth. It roared in fury before blindly charging at its attacker and swiping with its non-injured paw.

Before the beast could get any force behind the swipe, Ezekiel closed the distance, blocking the arm at the elbow instead of the claws, before unleashing a flurry of slashes to the ursa's face, neck, and chest. A bloody mess, the grimm's thoughts of retreat never came to be; it found itself with a blade in its windpipe before it could act again. There was a loud _thud_ as the creature hit the forest floor deprived of its life.

Cracking his neck, Ezekiel twirled his blade to rid it of blood before returning it to its spot on his back. He would have reveled in his victory more if he didn't hear a disturbing scream at that exact moment.

After quickly confirming that it was certainly a bestial scream and not the scream of a student, he started in its direction. That cry would attract attention, and even if whoever caused it already had a partner, help would be needed should more grimm arrive.

* * *

Abel loved martial arts.

He found a certain charm in the idea of structured styles of combat. Fluid motions, direction of energy, life force and spiritual manipulation, and all around badassery were among the things that drew him to martial arts. These were the things that made him want to learn as many as possible. However, no matter how many forms of combat he learned, the one thing that stayed the same was that the power in a strike rarely came from anywhere but the ground - a punch drew force from the legs, for example. This meant that many martial arts were infinitely less effective when the practitioner was in the air.

This meant that Abel Meserve had no landing strategy to speak of.

He knew he would have to make up for his poor classroom scores in the field, so he was a little upset that his landing consisted of crashing through a pair of branches before slamming face-first into a tree, just barely able to jab Esther into it to keep from falling. It was definitely not a good start.

He sighed as he pulled Xerxes from its sheath and began his descent. Hopefully, this was as bad as it was going to get.

The loud cawing from above seemed to suggest otherwise.

Several feathers, about two feet in length each, came flying from the treetops. Abel just barely avoided major damage with a roll, although he took one feather on the shoulder. Even if his armor deflected the feather, the impact still hurt like hell. Rolling his shoulder around, he looked up to see a Nevermore perched on a high branch looking at him rather scornfully. Judging by its size, Abel guessed it was an adolescent. It cawed again and spread its wings in an attempt to make itself look bigger and more imposing.

_'That settles it. He thinks I'm prey.'_

Abel decided to take the bait and ran to the bird's right, towards a large clearing in the trees. He knew that if he was to stand a chance, he had to get the bird out in the open. Running as fast as he could, he managed to make it to the clearing without taking any more hits.

The Nevermore gave chase and started circling, stopping every so often to fire some more feathers. Abel either rolled out-of-the-way or shot the projectiles with Esther. When he started to see patterns forming, likely an attempt to box him in, he started pulling the feathers out of the ground whenever he rolled. This stalemate continued for quite a while.

Eventually, the bird grew impatient of the waiting game and dive-bombed its prey. Rather than roll as it expected him to do, he stood his ground and, taking aim as the bird drew ever closer, fired two shots from Esther in rapid succession. Neither hit their mark, but it was enough for the beast to hesitate for the briefest of moments.

Using this window of opportunity, Abel leapt off the ground and thrust Xerxes forward. The blade found its target in the Nevermore's right shoulder. The surprised predator cried out and began an ascent with the intent of shaking Abel off. It was right then that he pulled Xerxes' trigger. The blade flew open, and Abel fell a short distance to the ground, still holding a giant wing.

The shriek the terrified bird gave as it crashed into the ground could be heard for miles. Injured heavily and disoriented, it made a pathetic attempt to flee, crashing into the ground several times as it failed over and over to use a wing that was no longer there.

Abel felt his heart ache. Even if grimm were his sworn enemy, it was an unnecessarily cruel end should he let it bleed out. And his martial arts background meant that, regardless of the evilness of his opponent, he would always treat a fallen foe with respect.

"Sorry about that, buddy." He walked over to the screaming bird. "Let me help you out."

He shoved Xerxes under the armored feathers of the Nevermore's neck and released the trigger. The blades swung together and ended the beast's ceaseless cry with a swift decapitation.

He stood silently over his fallen foe for all of five seconds before the rustling of a bush caught his attention.

* * *

Faye was ready for this.

Her landing strategy of creating an ice ramp to slide on had worked perfectly. The pair of Beowolves she'd seen earlier had run at the sight of her. She'd encountered absolutely nothing that could harm her. On top of that, while she was flying though the air, she'd spotted the objective - thus, she knew that the direction she was moving in was the right one. Things could not be going better.

Well, maybe not. She still had yet to find a partner, but she knew if she waited at the ruins for long enough, someone would eventually come, so she wasn't too worried about that.

As the young huntress-in-training continued to walk, she heard some rustling behind her. She turned to see a lone Beowolf that fled from her as soon as they made eye contact. Faye shrugged it off and continued walking. A few minutes later, the exact same thing happened.

Then it happened again. Faye felt her paranoia growing more and more severe with each step she took. Finally, when it happened the fourth time, she decided she'd had enough.

The Beowolf fled, just like it had done before. This time, however, Faye gave chase. Once it noticed it was not alone, the beast broke into a breakneck speed, fleeing as fast as its legs would carry it. After a few minutes of chase, Faye finally caught up and, with one fluid motion, threw the lance like a javelin. It struck the grimm at the neck, killing it instantly. Out of breath, Faye lumbered over and retrieved her spear. It retracted and she returned it to her waist.

It was right then and there that Faye noticed the growling.

She spun around, her eyes on the Beowolf she'd just killed. It was still dead.

_'Where the hell...'_ She turned, eyes searching for the source of the sound. When she found it, she felt her heart skip a beat.

Surrounding her were no less than thirty Beowolves, and none of them looked all to happy at the death of their comrade. It was then that she noticed she was in a tiny clearing, a lone tree her only cover.

The perfect place for an ambush.

Quick as a flash, Faye drew her weapon and stood on guard. She knew she would have to find a way to escape over defeating every single enemy - her stamina simply would not allow for the latter.

Before she could formulate a plan, five Beowolves simultaneously lunged at her. She fired an electrical pulse into the ground as she jumped, the orb of energy striking all five as they converged where she had been seconds before. Now hanging from a tree branch, she surveyed her surroundings.

The five that attacked her were on the ground. Two were rolling around while the other three were still. Faye knew the pulse was only enough to put them down briefly, so she had to act fast. However, no matter where she looked, she couldn't find an opening in the Beowolf wall. The tree she was in wasn't very high, so escape from above wasn't an option either. And she'd run to catch the first beast, so she knew she didn't have the energy to outrun them before her heart gave out.

_'Okay, I can't escape on the ground, can't take the air, and can't make a mad dash for it. If I kill them all, I end up either out of dust or out of aura. And I can't have that - there's no way I can fight them all without injury.'_

It was times like this that she wished she had a combat-related semblance instead of her healing.

_'Well, I'm not alone in the forest, so...Okay, I'll fight as loud as I can and hope someone hears me. I can do this with someone else.'_

She jumped down on top of one of the Beowolves that was stumbling about, stabbing it in the face before incapacitating the other two with another pulse. Then she quickly switched modes and torched the two unconscious Beowolves with the spear's flamethrower. Their howls would certainly be loud enough for the job.

Enraged, three more Beowolves charged. One was hit by a massive spiked ball of ice, but the other two managed to avoid it and close the distance. Faye blocked a total of four blows from the two before executing an upward slash with a backflip, severing the arm of one wolf while putting space between her and her enemies.

Before she could plan her next move, there were suddenly three Beowolves in front of her again. Not only that, but she heard the movement of no less than two more behind her. She had eight pulses, nineteen ice shots, and about forty seconds of flame left. Her own body was in far worse condition: although uninjured, she was panting heavily and was drenched in sweat. The combat on top of the chase were taking their toll on her stamina. If she was going to do this, she would need to be perfect.

She jumped backward in a spinning slash and managed to slash a beowolf across the eyes before her spear stabbed another one in the head. One blinded, one dead. Thankfully, there _were_ only two behind her. She lunged forward at the three in front of her...

And dove for the ground when she heard an incomprehensible yell and the sound of a massive slash heading in her direction.

* * *

Theresa had finally found out where she was supposed to go.

After some fruitless searching and tree climbing, she was able to get to a point where she spotted some ruins in the distance. She figured that was as good a bet as any, and headed in that direction. That was five minutes ago.

Ever since her fight with the Beowolf, she had seen no signs of life. Scratch grimm sightings, she hadn't even seen any regular animals. While this was a little unnerving, she just kept her course. This was a graded assignment after all, and quick completion was probably a good thing.

She walked along, hands in her pockets, whistling some silly tune she'd heard last week. It was stuck in her head since then, and she just couldn't get it out.

A loud howl broke her from her stupor. She'd already heard that cry once today.

_'Beowolves. I guess I'd better...woah.'_

The howling of several more wolves answered the first. It was clear that his was a force far greater than the three she'd encountered earlier. Before she could stop herself, she ran in the direction of the bestial cry. Even if she didn't like to fight, she wasn't going to let someone else fight that many grimm without some kind of help.

As she got closer and closer, it occurred to her that charging in head first was probably going to attract a lot of attention to herself. She stopped, about fifty meters from the source of the sounds, and climbed a nearby tree. She would go in from the air.

Now ten meters away, she had a clear view of the ring of Beowolves in front of her.

_'Five, ten, fifteen...twenty...okay, a lot. That's a lot of grimm. Maybe I should just leave...'_

The sound of slashing brought Theresa back from her thoughts. In the middle of the clearing was a small girl in orange robes wielding a cross-spear with quite a bit of skill. As well as she seemed to be holding up, Theresa could see from the beads of sweat on her forehead and her heavy breathing that she was not doing too well with pacing herself. If she left the girl to her devices, she would not be getting out of this situation without some substantial injuries. That was all she needed to convince her to jump down.

She landed about five meters behind a part of the ring, attracting the attention of several Beowolves when she landed. Settling in a wide stance, she twisted her entire torso around, arms close together, before calling on her aura.

* * *

Theresa knew she was not the brightest student. Her grades were average at best, and although she was good at fighting, there was no way someone with her grades and hatred of combat would ever be accepted into a prestigious school like Beacon without either a) a kickass letter of recommendation, or b) a seriously influential x-factor on her application. She had no one to turn to for option a, so she had settled on option b.

Thankfully, she had an exceptional addition for use with option b.

One night many years ago, while she was thinking about ways to shorten fights (because what else would she be doing), it occurred to her that there was only so much someone could do at close range. To stop the fight before it started, proficiency at range was needed. Her family was far too poor to afford firearms, so she had to come up with a way to do so that she could always access.

And she did.

After several months of practice and theory, she stumbled upon what she thought was her semblance. While it would be proven later on that she was wrong on that front, the potential in this new technique was plain as day. So she started practicing it. She was even able to teach a little bit of it to Zeke, although he wasn't anywhere near as good at it as she was. And as it turns out, this technique was not only new to her, but new to Vale as well. Hell, it was new to Vytal, possibly to all of Remnant. Yes, Theresa Anderson was accepted into beacon because she invented a new, practical form of combat that, in theory, could be used by anyone with enough training.

It was in preparation of this technique that she took the stance she was taking in the Emerald Forest.

* * *

"WATCH YOUR HEAD!"

Theresa screamed as loud as she could before twisting her body, throwing her left arm in front of her to add momentum to the strike. As she lashed out with a ferocious right hook, she released as much of her aura as she could without hurting herself, and she did so through the blade on her right wrist.

The Beowolves were far too close to react in time to the massive slash of pale grey that cut them in half, sailing through several trees, half the ring, and over the prone student before petering out about a meter behind her. She yelped when the upper half of a dead Beowolf landed on her, but was otherwise unaffected by the strike.

Theresa fell to one knee, but was able to quickly stand back up and assess the situation. The remaining Beowolves were confused enough that she was able to run over to the girl on the ground without resistance. Thankfully, the trees that fell had done so away from the center of the circle.

"Hey, are you okay?" She quickly got out as she threw the half-grimm off of her classmate. She was understandably confused, but otherwise unchanged from before.

"I...think so," was her quiet reply.

"Good. I know you have questions, but let's worry about that after we get out of here." She stuck out her hand. Having regained her senses, the girl took her savior's hand and pulled herself up to her feet. In all the excitement, she'd forgotten how tired she was.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." She said plainly as she listened to the remaining Beowolves flee from the carnage. Theresa looked over the girl's shoulder and released her hand.

"Oh. Okay then."

Silence. Only the orange girl's exhaustion filled the wordless void between them.

"Sooooo...I guess we're partners?" Theresa broke the silence.

The girl looked at her, still breathing heavily. "Yeah, I guess we are," she stuck out her hand, "Faye Lupei."

Theresa smiled and took the outstretched hand in her own, taking care not to crush the tiny hand of her partner. "Theresa Anderson. Pleasure to meet you, Faye."

* * *

"Well whaddya- hey Zeke!"

Ezekiel relaxed his guard when he saw the familiar face call out to him. He had come to the clearing ready to fight if he needed to, but it seemed that it was an unnecessary precaution.

"Abel! I guess you don't have a partner yet..." He trailed off as he looked at the grimm (in more ways than one) corpse on the ground.

Abel sheathed his blades and continued, "Nope, you're the first one I've seen. I guess that means we're stuck with each other, huh?"

Ezekiel almost didn't react to the rhetorical question. He was too entranced by the wing of the defeated Nevermore. Its size made him think it belonged to something, or rather, _someone_ else.

He suddenly found himself with an urge to get this test over with as quickly as possible.

"Yeah, I guess we are." He said as he stuck his hand out. Abel grasped it by the forearm in a firm embrace. "Now then, I suppose we'd better get moving?"

Abel's face was one of revelation. "Oh yeah, right! Heh, almost forgot this was a test." Abel looked at the ground and released his grip. "I don't suppose you know where to go from here, do you?"

Ezekiel just smiled slightly. "Actually, I do. We just need to follow that stream," He pointed behind him with his thumb, "there's a lake near the temple, so it shouldn't be too far from there."

"What?" Abel said, looking up. "How do you know that?"

"I saw it during the launch."

Abel slumped over again. "Aww, and I was trying to figure out how to not crash into a tree. Thanks for making me feel bad, man."

"You're welcome." Ezekiel said, not missing a beat. He was already about ten meters into the woods, following the stream.

"Hey, wait up!"

* * *

**OKAY ENOUGH**

**I was not planning on ending this chapter until after the team naming ceremony, but I also wasn't planning on this chapter to be 8,000 words.**

**So I'm gonna stop it here, and hopefully have another (much shorter) chapter up soon. **

**BTW, there is more to the arc than the two pairs meeting up and the ceremony, so don't worry about that. This chapter could have easily exceeded 12k words with where it was going, and I had to end it somewhere, soooooo...Yeah.**

**As always, thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a review containing any criticism, and don't be afraid to shoot me a pm if you have any questions, as I will be more than happy to answer them.**

**Until next time!**

**-smurf**


	4. Chapter 3: Initiation (Part 2)

The stream was much longer than they initially thought.

Faye didn't really mind though. This meant she could spend more time getting to know her newfound teammate.

"So you two run that shop all by yourself? Aren't you too young?"

Theresa shrugged without her hands leaving her pockets. "Ehhh, these cops tend not to act on technicalities if you're not really doing anything wrong. I mean, it's a legitimate business; we've got a license, we pay our rent, and we don't start shit with anyone. At the end of the day, that's all that really matters."

Faye simply nodded in understanding before allowing silence to overtake them. She hadn't noticed it while in the midst of the Beowolf ambush, but the forest was actually quite a sight. The trees were all tall and sturdy, and the thin canopy let just enough light through to let the leaves and surprisingly lush grass to shimmer with a brilliant radiance.

_'Hmm. Emerald_ _Forest indeed...'_

Over the course of the past hour, Faye learned that Theresa was hopelessly addicted to coffee, hated the mornings, loved sightseeing, and that her favorite color was black. Faye could have figured out that last one herself, but whatever. She also learned that Theresa was a twin, that she had joined the academy with her brother, and that the two of them ran a weapons shop back in Vale. Their parents didn't come up once, so Faye figured there was some history that would probably be better left alone.

In return, Theresa learned that Faye was more of a tea drinker, was more of a morning person, had a mild fear of heights, and loved to go running. Theresa also learned that she was an only child, and was born with very poor health, which is why she was so out of breath earlier. Why Faye enjoyed running despite this little fact, she couldn't tell.

As the two of them continued to walk, the occasional pebble their only obstruction, the stream began to get wider and wider. When it became wide enough to become a river was when the pair's improvised path ended abruptly with the wall of earth in front of them.

"Is this the cliff? Did we just go backwards?" Theresa was rather miffed. The idea of the past hour of walking being rendered useless was not very appealing.

Faye shook her head and began walking to the river. "No, this is the cliff on the other side of the forest. It's not much farther from here." She began hopping on the many rocks that broke the course of the river. The river wasn't exactly a deadly rapid, so it could only have been an attempt to cross while staying dry. "At least, I don't think so." She shouted from a particularly large rock.

Theresa chuckled to herself. "Whatever you say, sister," She called out, heedlessly trudging though the water. She was clearly not as concerned with getting wet as Faye was. Besides, the water reached halfway up her calf at its deepest, so it's not like it was much of a problem.

At least it wouldn't have been if she hadn't tripped on her own two feet and - in a spectacular display - done no less than two cartwheels and/or flips before landing flat on her back, submerging her almost completely in the cool water.

Although she wasn't making a sound, the sight of Faye doubled over with her hand on her mouth made her amusement quite clear.

Theresa was less pleased. She laid completely still, simmering in her self loathing before sitting upright and assessing the situation. It didn't take much to figure out that she was completely and thoroughly soaked. Her hair plastered over her eyes, she saw nothing through the thick black mane. Peeling it off her face, she found her hat lazily floating down the river, no more than five feet away.

As she stood up to claim her runaway headgear, Faye finally broke. She made a noise like a dying animal as she inhaled sharply in a futile attempt to catch her breath. By this point, tears were streaming down her face. Seeing the state of Theresa's hair had not helped at all.

"Hey, I'll have you know that it takes skill to trip on a flat surface." She said dejectedly, although she was fairly certain Faye hadn't heard her. She was too busy gasping for breath in the fetal position. It was a good thing she'd made it across before Theresa's "show", or she would have surely fallen in the water.

Pushing the sting of her humiliation to the back of her mind, she quickly grabbed her hat, shook it off, and jammed it back on her head. She walked swiftly past her partner who, although still on the ground, had calmed down.

"Wait..." Faye stretched out her arm, still struggling for breath. She quickly got herself together and ran after her partner. "That's the wrong way. The temple's this way."

Theresa stopped. She couldn't be more embarrassed, and her face was certainly reflecting it.

"I knew that." She fast-walked towards the direction of Faye's pointing.

* * *

"You good over there?"

Unlike Faye and Theresa, Abel and Ezekiel hadn't spent much time socializing. The pair was apparently in a more dangerous part of the woods, having just finished a pack of no less than six ursa. It seems the Nevermore's death cry attracted more than just a single hunter.

Ezekiel pulled his blade out of the dead ursa's neck, quickly side-stepping to avoid the spurt of red that followed. Grimm had nothing on trying to get red out of a white outfit. Come to think of it...why was he wearing white to begin with?

"Just dandy," he called out, pondering this fact. Sliding his weapon back to its spot on his back, he continued, "I suppose you're the same?"

The dying cry of an ursa confirmed his theory.

"Just finished." Abel said with a slight smirk. Xerxes was working even better than he thought it would. The ursa's neck had been no match for the reinforced titanium, and the headless body in front of him was a testament to that.

"Good. We'd better get moving than." Ezekiel quickly surveyed the area, confirming the lack of Grimm, and proceeded down the riverbank. "It shouldn't be much further."

"Right." Abel quickly sheathed his blades before running to catch up. Unlike his partner, several places on his armor had changed color.

"Hey, could I ask you a stupid question?" He asked after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"Sure, why not?" Ezekiel stopped walking and turned to his partner.

"How're you not covered in blood?"

Ezekiel looked down at his outfit. Indeed, the only red on it was the red of his shirt. A quick look at Abel proved that he was not so lucky.

"Have you ever tried to get a stain out of a white outfit?" He said after a few seconds.

Abel blinked, his train of thought nearly derailed by the awkward answer. Although, perhaps it was an answer fitting of such an awkward question...

"Well yeah, but I was more asking how you did it, not why."

"Oh. That makes sense."

Silence.

Abel couldn't tell if Ezekiel was oblivious or just screwing with him. His general intelligence seemed to suggest the latter.

"Sooooo...?"

"Hmm? Ah, right. It's my semblance." Ezekiel answered. Perhaps he really was just oblivious.

Either way, Abel's curiosity was not yet sated, "Your semblance is...what, a no-stain shield?"

"Exactly."

...

Scratch that, he was _definitely _screwing with him.

Ezekiel confirmed Abel's theory with a burst of laughter.

"Sorry, sorry, I had to. Couldn't resist." Collecting himself, he continued, "My semblance is not a no-stain shield. It's not a shield at all."

Abel scratched the back of his head, "Okay...so what is it?"

Ezekiel continued to walk, Abel following in-suit.

"I call it Foresight. I could break out a bunch of scientific terms and algorithms to try to explain it-"

"Please don't. I'm not good with big words."

Ezekiel chuckled to himself, "Then I'll keep it simple. I can see the future."

Abel blinked a few times, not sure what to make of such a claim. "Like...like a psychic?"

Ezekiel shook his head, "Not quite. I can only see a couple of seconds ahead. It's useful in battle, but it takes a lot of focus, and I always end up with a migraine. I can only see the future, not predict it."

_'Isn't that the same thing?'_ Abel decided against voicing his question, for fear of what the response would be. He didn't think his brain could handle it.

After a few more minutes of walking in peace, enjoying the lull in-between battles, Ezekiel finally voiced the obvious question.

"How about you?"

Abel broke his attention from some kind of lizard staring at him from a tree branch. "What?"

"Semblances. I told you mine, so what's yours?"

Abel looked at his feet, suddenly avoiding eye-contact. "Oh...well, mine's not nearly as useful. Or interesting."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Ezekiel had stopped walking and turned to face Abel.

"Well...I'd explain it but, I...I don't really know how." Abel's voice was almost inaudible, never lifting his head.

"Try." Ezekiel was far too curious to simply let it slide.

Abel turned and started walking again. "I can...make a ball. The ball...umm...pulls things? Like, towards it?"

Ezekiel nodded, but otherwise remained passive.

"Well, the ball is really small, and I can't use it without either passing out or hurting myself. Even then, it...doesn't pull anything very hard. It's useless-"

"Not in the slightest."

Abel shot his glance to his partner. He was looking straight ahead, brow furrowed.

"It sounds to me like you can manipulate gravity."

"Gravity? Uh...well, I guess that makes sense, but I can only make a tiny ball. And even then, it can only pull, it can't push or anything."

Ezekiel started walking again. Abel followed.

"Regardless, the potential for a very powerful semblance is there. I assume one of the reasons you practice so many martial arts is to compensate for your inability to use it?"

Even though the words weren't meant to sting, they still did. Although, Abel seemed a little calmer than before.

"Yeah, pretty much. Apparently, my aura's pretty hefty too, so not being able to use it doesn't affect me too much."

"Good to hear. I'd hate to be stuck with an incompetent partner."

Abel narrowed his eyes slightly, but otherwise remained silent. The silence was broken rather quickly, however, as the obvious sound of fighting resonated through the forest.

"Sounds like it's coming from down the river. Want to check it out?"

Abel shrugged. "Might as well. We're going that way anyway, right?"

"Right."

The two took off, running full speed. Within minutes, they finally reached the end of the river. It emptied out into a massive lake, half shallow enough to stand in, half deep enough to be unable to see the bottom. The water was quite murky, but still shone a brilliant blue. However, that wasn't the prime sight.

No, that honor went to the fight on the other side of the lake.

There was a massive Grimm attacking a pair of hunters - no, huntresses. Body low to the ground and with four legs and a massive tail, the beast was covered completely in loose black skin, save for the bony plate on the top of its head and the rough spines that ran down its back. It had a wide mouth that covered the entire width of its head, a pair of beady red eyes, and a mouth that had to have a few hundred needle-like teeth, if not more.

"Uhh...Zeke?"

"...Yeah?"

"What is that thing?"

"Ahh..."

Ezekiel remembered it from somewh - that was it, he saw a picture of it last night in his textbook. The name escaped him, but he remembered reading that it was an amphibious Grimm - one of the few (and largest) in existence. And large it was - the thing couldn't be less than ten meters. But something seemed off...

That's right. This particular Grimm was territorial. It only attacked if it was attacked first. But, even passing through its territory wasn't enough to provoke it, so...why was it attacking?

The instant he spotted one of the huntresses leaping onto the beast's head, clad in a black trench coat, he had his answer.

"...You idiot."

"W-what?"

Ezekiel pulled his weapon off his back, "We're helping." He ran over to the pair in a flash of white.

"Ah...okay." Abel drew his blades and followed.

* * *

**Moments earlier**

"Oh dear."

Professor Goodwitch's remark broke the relative silence of the cliff-face.

"Hmm?" Ozpin took another sip of his coffee, his fourth of the day. At this point, all but four students were accounted for, so he had been able to relax a bit and enjoy the scenery.

"It seems Ms. Anderson just provoked a Hellbender."

And just like that, Ozpin's peace shattered. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's certainly reckless."

Goodwitch nodded in affirmation. "Something tells me we've found the problem child of the class."

Ozpin looked over the brilliance of the Emerald Forest, worry for his students in his mind. True, eight other students had conquered a Death Stalker and a Giant Nevermore no more than an hour ago. However, the two teams had individuals that were quite a bit stronger. Not only that, but they had natural-born leaders with them.

No matter how he looked at the situation, it was u

nlikely just the two of them could overcome such a Grimm.

"Oh my." Goodwitch once again broke Ozpin from his thoughts.

"What is it now?" He said, his voice completely monotone.

"Mr. Meserve and Mr. Anderson have joined the fight."

"Well, that's...better." He took another sip from his coffee, and pulled out his own scroll, switching on the live feed in the process.

Three massive battles in one orientation? This was shaping up to be an interesting year.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

"I'M...FIGHTING THIS PIECE OF-WOAH!"

"YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED!"

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING! I SWEAR, I GOT IT UNDER CONTROL!"

The rapid fire shouting between the pair of huntresses made it rather clear that Theresa clinging onto the beast's skull was not part of some elaborate plan. Faye was running all over the place, dodging the Grimm's jaws by a hair's breadth each time. Despite its size, it could lunge surprisingly quick.

Admittedly, Theresa's plan of taking out the beast's eyes first had gone much better in her head. But now that she was already there, she wasn't about to turn back, no matter how grim it may turn out.

_'Heh...grim...'_

Suddenly the beast swung its head violently from side to side. She held on with all her might, but to no avail. Luckily, Faye was between her and that tree, so the blow was somewhat cushioned for her. Faye...

"OW! WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!"

...also seemed unhurt. And mad. Was she mad?

"I was trying to take out its eyes! If it can't see-"

"YOU COULD HAVE AT LEAST TOLD ME FIRST!"

Yeah, she was pretty mad.

"I have to agree, that was a rather idiotic move."

The pair turned to find two hunters jogging up to them. Theresa recognized her own flesh and blood, but the larger boy took a few more seconds.

"Shut up Zeke. Hey Abel." She stuck out her hand.

Ezekiel took her outstretched hand and pulled her up on her feet. "I'm sure introductions are in order, but I think we've got something slightly more important to deal with right now."

No sooner than a second after the words left his mouth, the Grimm's tail smashed down on the four. Three of them jumped out-of-the-way. Guess who didn't.

"Theresa!"

Ezekiel turned to find his sister with her arms crossed over her head, one knee on the ground. She blocked the tail, but was obviously not uninjured.

"Hang on!" He twirled his weapon around before swinging upward in a golf swing. Even though he didn't get the logic behind his sister's technique, he was still able to pick up a few things after a bit of practice. For example, he could amplify the power of his swing by feeding some aura into the weapon without releasing it. This is how he was able to knock the Grimm's tail into the air, giving Theresa time to roll out from under it before it crashed down again.

"Ow. That fucking hurt," She said as she clutched her side. Internal damage. It would heal eventually, but they had to get out of this mess first.

"Alright, I'll save the complaining for later. For now," Faye turned to the beast. It was facing them again, hissing loudly, "How are we going to deal with this thing?"

Ezekiel scratched his head, "Well, if Tess wasn't injured, she could just keep punching it until the skull breaks."

"Tess? How do you know Theresa?" Faye asked.

"He's my brother." Theresa cried out from behind them. She was now leaning against a tree, per Abel's help.

"Ahh...anyway, I think we should come up with an actual plan before we continue."

"Right, right. So, any ideas?"

Before Faye could respond, a stream of fire shot towards their general direction. Unlike last time, they were all able to get out of its path.

"It breathes fire too..." Faye muttered from the branches of a tree, clearly irked.

"Umm...I don't suppose running away is an option? I mean, we've got injured on hand." Abel's voice cried out from behind a rather large rock.

"I don't think so. It's waiting for us to make a move, and it's already proven itself faster than it looks. I'm not willing to take such a risk." Ezekiel was behind the tree Faye was on top of.

The Grimm was still hissing loudly, staring at the source of the voices but otherwise not moving.

"Oh, right!" Faye suddenly said as she sheathed her weapon and leapt from her branch to Abel's rock, narrowly avoiding a stream of fire along the way. Just as she suspected, her partner was sitting against the rock, arm over her stomach. She didn't seem injured from the outside, but that didn't change the fact that she was. "Move your arm." She told her."

Theresa's surprised grunt was the only reply.

"I can heal you. Move you arm." Faye repeated, now holding out her hands. They were glowing ever so slightly.

"Really?" Now it was Abel's turn to voice his surprise.

"Semblance. Arm. Move." Was her only reply.

Theresa complied, and Faye brought both her hands to her partner's side. A grey glow began to radiate around the pair. After a brief moment, Faye jumped back with a startled cry.

"Are you okay?" Abe said, worry in his voice.

Faye was viciously shaking her hands, but was otherwise unfazed. "Yeah, just fine. How about you," she asked, turning to her partner,"are you okay?"

Theresa was too absorbed poking her side to answer. "I...think so?..." Was her reply after a while.

Suddenly, she stood up. "Yeah, I am! That's amazing!"

"Um, Theresa? I don't think you should stand." Abel's suggestion went unheard, drowned out by the roaring of flames over the top of the rock.

"Eek!" Theresa ducked down, but it was too late. Her hat blew in front of the trio, slowly being consumed by the flames.

There was a serene quiet, save for the hissing behind them. Suddenly:

"ALL RIGHT YOU PIECE OF SHIT, YOU WANNA DIE?!" Theresa screamed out, high hurdling the rock before sprinting towards the beast before her.

"Sonofa- cover her!" Ezekiel cried out as he also sprinted from cover.

Faye let out an annoyed grunt before doing the same, firing balls of ice all the while. Abel followed in suit, wildly firing Esther.

No strategy to speak of, the four hunters began dancing around the colossus, dodging fire and tail while trying (and failing) to land a damaging attack.

After several minutes of hopelessness, the four found themselves clustered behind another rock. The flames periodically bathing the rock was no match for the simmering fury of the hat-less huntress.

"Theresa." Ezekiel called out between blasts.

"WHAT?" She was still rather annoyed.

"Don't do that again." Faye this time. Although Abel didn't vocalize, it was clear from his face that he was thinking the same thing.

Theresa huffed once, and returned to her calm, slightly aloof nature she used to get through the day. "Alright, anybody got a plan?" She turned to her brother's partner.

He, in turn, looked at Ezekiel...

Who looked back at Theresa.

"That would be a no?"

The two of them shook their heads. Faye sat huddled against the rock, arms crossed over her knees and head down.

Another blast of fire.

"I don't suppose we could just wait until he runs out of fire?"

Ezekiel shook his head. "And if he never does?"

"Good point."

Fire.

"Okay then, how about we all split up? He can't attack us all at once, right?" Abel this time.

Now it was Theresa's turn to shake her head. "I don't suppose you're willing to volunteer yourself as the one he does attack?"

"Oh. Yeah..."

Fire.

This pattern repeated a few more times, plan after plan ending up fruitless before Faye finally chimed in.

"What're our semblances?"

This, in turn, received a curious look from two of the party members.

"I can see the future, Abel can slightly control gravity, and Theresa's punches get stronger the more she does so. And I assume yours is healing related, since my sister is no longer injured." Ezekiel's response was calm and deliberate. He was ready to start planning.

Faye took the tone of his voice as a signal to continue: "How far? I mean, how far into the future?"

"Couple seconds, at the most. It takes a lot of focus, though."

Fire.

Theresa and Abel sat completely clueless, heads bobbing and weaving between the two as they continued their conversation, seemingly unaware of their surroundings.

"Theresa, how accurate are you with that...aura...thingy?"

Theresa nearly gave herself whiplash as she spun towards the origin of the question. Ezekiel was confused as to how Faye knew of Theresa's craft, but remained silent.

"What? Oh! Oh. Umm, pretty accurate, as long as I don't put too much into them."

"And the punching thing is correct? What're its limits?" Faye continued.

Theresa scratched her head. She would definitely need to go get a new hat after they got out of this mess. "Well I've never tested it, but I think the power can keep rising until my arms break. It fades pretty quickly though."

"That's fine." Faye said, an air of authority in her voice as she turned to Abel. "How much control do you have over gravity?"

Fire.

"Not much. I can make a small spot have more gravity, but not for long. And it really hurts my head." He rubbed his forehead, as if to emphasize the point.

Now Faye fell completely silent, still hugging her knees. She put her head down as all three watched her.

Fire.

"Okay, here's the plan."

* * *

The silence was deafening.

The Grimm had given up on trying to melt the rock a while ago, and was now waiting patiently. It would scorch the next one that jumped out.

The instant this thought completed itself, the one wearing white jumped out to the right of the boulder. Yet, the blast of fire didn't hit. Neither did the second. Breath after breath hit nothing but air as the hunter continued to jump, roll, sprint, and generally beeline away from the rock.

The beast's irritation was the reason it didn't notice a huntress in black roll out to the left of the boulder. By the time it turned back to the rock, slashes were already careening towards its face. More specifically, its eyes. The slashes didn't do any damage. Instead, they blinded the Grimm as it closed its eyes in reflex.

Six slashes landed before the beast breathed once again. Although the remaining slashes disintegrated, the huntress was back behind the rock before she got burned. The pillar of flames also served to impede the beast's vision further. This is the exact reason that it didn't notice the pair of blue lights rocketing towards it until they'd already hit.

Even though the beast broke the frozen mass binding him to the lake-bed quickly, it wasn't quick enough. The huntress in black from earlier was already on top of its plated head, pounding away. It could have easily shaken her off if there wasn't a man with azure scales shooting at its face and forelegs.

It was hard enough as it was. The man in white from before slashing at its side wasn't helping. But now, there was another huntress - a smaller girl in orange, standing on top of the blackened rock. She wasn't attacking, she wasn't commanding, she was just...standing there. Staring intently. Watching. It was annoying.

A sickening _crack_ broke the beast's thoughts as an unfamiliar pain assailed the top of its head. Then it realized that the huntress in black was still punching its head, each punch cracking the armor more and more. Then...

A small part of the plate completely shattered, exposing the armored black flesh beneath. With this, the huntress leapt away, slamming its head into the ground in the process. In all the confusion and pain, there was no way for the Grimm to notice that its head felt much heavier, as if there was something pulling it to the ground. There was no way to notice that the hunter in white was now standing several meters in front of it, catching the orange girl's jump with his staff before launching her in the air. There was no way to notice that all the hunters had vacated the water in favor for dry land. There was no way to notice that, in her backwards launch, the girl had thrown her weapon.

There was no way to notice that the weapon was now crackling and glowing blue.

In the one stroke of good luck for the day, the water meant that the beast was dead within seconds instead of minutes.

* * *

"Abel Meserve, Faye Lupei, Ezekiel Anderson, Theresa Anderson."

The four hunters took the stage. A large crowd had gathered around them, made of nothing but students and faculty. Of course, it would be strange for anyone else to be there at all - this was the Beacon Academy Team Naming ceremony, after all.

In a rare moment of coffeelessness, Ozpin continued in monotone.

"The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team FATE. Led by..."

A brief pause, no doubt for dramatic effect.

"Faye Lupei."

Faye's posture remained so proper, only the most well-trained eye would have been able to see the breath she subtly sucked in.

Clearing the stage quickly, Faye found herself quickly surrounded by the many obligatory congratulations of her fellow classmates. But one of them...

"Great job, partner! Good to know we're in good hands."

...was just a little sweeter than the others.

* * *

**Thus goeth the end of chapter 2. Finally. **

**Yeah, so this took waaaaay longer than it should have, and I do apologize for the wait. Real life tends to get in the way of the creative process way more than you think it would. **

**Speaking of the unexpected, HOLY SHIT WHEN DID I GET TO 200 VIEWS? WHERE DID THOSE 7 FOLLOWERS COME FROM? WHAT ABOUT THOSE 4 FAVORITES?**

**To put it lightly, this much success is quite the pleasant surprise. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has read up to this point, and those who will read, from the bottom of my heart. **

**That being said, there's still work to do!**

**All I can say is that I am completely in the dark for the direction of the next arc. I don't know if I'll be skipping the Jaune arc (totally not a pun), but that's still a little down the road. Next is probably some character development.**

**BTW, I know I just took a huge leap with the Hellbender, so please do tell me if you think it worked out okay.**

**See you later!**

**-smurf**


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